Hearts of Fire
by Dorrica
Summary: /HIATUS/ While aboard Zuko's ship Katara tries desperately to find what truly lies behind the mask, while Zhao gathers a fleet to seek out the Prince and eliminate him once and for all. Lessons are learned and choices are made in times of hardship. -ZukoxKatara-
1. And Everything Went Black

**Title:** Hearts of Fire  
**Author:** Dorri  
**Summary:** While aboard Zuko's ship Katara tries desperately to find what truly lies behind the mask, while Zhao gathers a fleet to seek out the Prince and eliminate him once and for all. Lessons are learned and choices are made in times of hardship  
**Pairing:** Zuko/Katara  
**Rating:** T (for language and violence)  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Zuko, Katara, Aang, Sokka or any of the fabulous characters of Avatar. They all belong to the brilliant writers, Michael DiMartino and Brian Koneitzko.

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_Chapter I_  
**And Everything Went Black **

Aang steered Appa towards the small, lonely island that sat quietly in the calm ocean just half a mile in front of them. The sun had already set many hours ago, but the moon, which hid behind a cluster of clouds, managed to shed some light to guide the way to their destination. Appa let out a loud grunt as they approached the island, feeling relieved to know that he would not have to do anymore flying for the rest of the night.

When the bison's feet touched land both Katara and Sokka awoke with a startle. They looked up lazily towards their companion.

"Sorry, guys," said Aang as he patted Appa on the head. "We'll camp out here tonight."

"Fine by me," said Sokka as he yawned. He was in desperate need of rest as it was, and trying to sleep on a large bison that kept making swift turns every so often was not his definition of 'rest and relaxation.' His stomach growled loudly and he moaned as the hunger pains gave him a painful reminder that he would have trouble sleeping tonight if he did not get something to eat. "So hungry…need food…" he said, a little too overly dramatic. He didn't need it _that _badly of course, but dramatic displays were always one of his strong points.

"The only thing you need is that extra stomach taken out," said Katara. "You're hopeless."

Sokka made a face at her playful 'insult.'

"Well I can't help it. It's been at least twelve hours since I last ate anything."

"We're _all _hungry, Sokka. You're not the only one," said Katara. "And it's only been eight hours, Sokka," she corrected, ignoring her brother's sarcastic "Oh, excuse me" reply. "You're not going to perish in the night," the waterbender added jokily.

"There's probably food on the island," Aang chimed in, "but we might want to wait 'till morning to go looking. We don't know what lives on this island. It'd be too dangerous to go wandering off in the dark."

"That's a good idea. We might as well make camp and get some sleep," said Katara. She and Aang unloaded the sleeping bags from Appa's saddle and began unrolling them on a flat area of sand, far enough away from the tide. Sokka did not like to go to bed on an empty stomach. He didn't like doing _anything _on an empty stomach, much to everyone's annoyance, but instead of arguing or complaining about it like he normally would when he did not get anything to eat, he decided to go ahead and make a fire to keep everyone warm, and then try and salvage some sleep while dawn was still a few hours away.

0ooooooo0

Zhao lowered his telescope as he saw the flying bison make its land, a smirk planted on his face. The island was still a good distance away, but he had to take his time. Finding them even after making an arrival would still take time seeing as though he did not see their exact landing spot, but Zhao didn't mind. He felt too confident to let impatience tamper with his mood.

The ship had remained at a fair distance from the flying bison in order to remain unseen, being aided by the dark of night. "The Avatar will soon be mine," Zhao whispered into the dark. His smile widened as he turned to face his crew. "Slow the engine down a bit! I don't want them to hear our approach."

The ocean was completely calm. Almost dead, as though the ship was gently slicing through ice that bent easily to the ship's will. It would indeed give Zhao the advantage of staying hidden. Without the waves slamming against the hull it would certainly do nicely for a silent approach. That and the fact that the moon was constantly being swallowed up by thick clouds, therefore the light could not reflect off the vessel. Most likely the children would be asleep by the time they made it to the island, and then the Avatar would be as good as his.

0ooooooo0

Katara awoke first the next morning like she usually did. As her eyes fluttered open, she was greeted by the faint light of the rising sun, and a pinkish hue that painted the sky, as well as the ocean and the leaves of trees.

She felt her nose tingle slightly as she smelt the smoldering fire. She saw that Aang and Sokka were still asleep. She decided to let them sleep a few more minutes and go for a walk to stretch her muscles. Normally she would have started breakfast, but they still needed to stop at a market since they were out of food. If Sokka were awake, he probably would have suggested trying to find a bird's nest so to swipe the eggs, but Aang, being the animal rights activist he was, would never hear of it. Katara was more in the mood for vegetation anyway.

Katara opened her water skin to take a drink of water but realized with disappointment that it was empty. Dying of thirst, she stood up and made her way into the woods, hoping to find a fresh stream where she may quench her thirst.

As she made her way into the woods she noticed a few bushes with a large amount of red and green berries inhabiting them. She lifted the front of her dress and started plucking the small fruits, knowing that they would make for a nice snack later on. She was not sure if they were edible or not, but she had a feeling Aang would know. She could tell that he had traveled a lot and might know whether or not the berries were poisonous. '_If he doesn't know then Sokka can be the one to determine that' _she thought with a smirk. She circled a few more bushes, and started on her way to find a creek.

0ooooooo0

Zhao whirled around as the sound of rustling leaves came into earshot. He pressed himself against a tree behind and brought his head around to scan the forest for the source of the sound. He smirked as he saw a female figure dressed in blue Water Nation attire trudging through the forest, apparently in careful search of something.

"One of the Avatar's companions," he breathed. "Perfect." As he watched the girl step into a clearing, Zhao followed after her, careful not to make too much noise as he walked through the fallen, dead leaves.

0ooooooo0

After a few minutes of impatiently searching the forest with no results of any other source of food, Katara came into a clearing where she saw the waves gently spill onto the white sand that stretched as far as her eyes could see, but upon finding this, her eyes came to rest on the Fire Nation ship that was currently resting on the shore. Her eyes widened in shock and the berries she had collected fell to the ground with several soft thuds. The first thing that came to her mind was Zuko, but she quickly acknowledged that the ship did not look like Zuko's. This ship was twice the size of Zuko's and its frontal design was different as well.

Her heart started racing. She could feel her hands trembling and her heart about to leap out of her chest as it continued to accelerate. Her eyes wandered the beach, but it seemed the ship had been deserted, but it could not be determined for how long.

Katara backed up slowly, preparing to turn and flee back through the woods and to the camp to warn Aang and Sokka, but then felt herself back into something, and it didn't feel like a tree.

"Hello," said a deep, masculine voice. Katara turned around sharply and was greeted by a tall man wearing fire navy armor. He was already advancing towards her, and he looked surprisingly pleased to say the least. He wore a small topknot and had dark sideburns that covered both sides of his face. She knew she had seen him in the Fire Nation temple a couple weeks back but even then she remembered seeing him somewhere before but she could not put her finger on exactly where.

Katara quickly shook herself out of her thoughts and broke off to the left to run back through the woods, but the firebender took off after her and grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her back towards him. She unwillingly whirled around to face him, feeling him grasp her other wrist and holding them both firmly, and painfully. "Where's the Avatar?" the man asked calmly.

Well, talk about déjà-vu.

Katara pulled against the man's painful grip, desperately trying to free herself. "Let go of me! I'm not telling you!" Katara ceased her struggling as she received a hard slap to the face, forcing her head to jerk to the side. She blinked away her tears, and slowly turned her head back towards the man, sending him a malicious glare. This did not provoke the man in the least, but she certainly was not going to show the man fear.

"I'll ask you again, and this time, I expect an answer. Where is the Avatar!" the man shouted impatiently. "I know he's here with you!" Katara narrowed her eyes and spat in the man's face. He jerked back and wiped the trail of saliva from his face with disgust. She momentarily smirked at the man's disgust but then noticed his face growing red with anger. She watched in horror as he drew his hand back and prepared to strike her again. Shutting her eyes, she braced herself as his hand started to move forward.

She waited and waited for the painful strike but it was never received. Curious as to why she still had not been struck, Katara opened her eyes to see that Zuko had prevented the slap. "You!" the older man shouted. Zuko drew his hand back and struck the man across the face, sending him to the ground. Losing her balance, Katara fell back onto the sand, hitting her head against a stone. What events followed afterwards, she did not know, for everything went black.

TBC…

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**A/N:** First Avatar fic, hot dog! I know this chapter probably resulted in some confusion, but things will be straightened out in the second chapter, so just hang tight!


	2. The Plan

_Chapter II_

**The Plan**

Zuko stood at the bow of his ship, the salty sea air sweeping across his face. He had told the helmsman to head south. He knew the Avatar had to be back on that island. He felt slightly foolish by taking the girl instead of searching the island for the airbender, yet he smirked as he remembered telling Zhao that he was holding the Avatar prisoner on board his ship. Zuko almost laughed, imagining the look on Zhao's face once he journeyed back to the Fire Nation and realized that it had all been a trick to throw him off his trail.

Since he had the young waterbender he knew the Avatar and the girl's brother would come searching for her, when they discovered she had been kidnapped that is. He would finally have the Avatar this time. He would have no choice but to surrender himself willingly if he did not want the girl to be harmed. Not that Zuko would actually hurt her, but the Avatar did not have to know that.

Bringing his thoughts away from the Avatar for a moment, Zuko opened up his hand, revealing the necklace that lay in his palm. The light of the sun reflected off the blue pendant, causing Zuko to wince slightly. He ran his index finger over the broken, velvet band. He wondered whether or not he should give it back to the girl. He did not need it anymore. Not that it did him much good before.He wondered why it was so important to her. He remembered her saying that it was her mother's but he knew there was more to the story than that. It obviously held a lot of value to her.

It had been close to an hour since they had embarked from the island. Zuko figured he might as well check on the girl to see if she had awaken.

------------------------------

Katara blinked her eyes open, whimpering as she felt a slight pain in the back of her head. When her vision became clear she sat up in shock, then winced as her head started throbbing with intense pain. She reached up to rub the back of her head but felt a bandage in place, yet still able to feel the knot that had formed.

She looked around the small, quiet room, seeing nothing but metal and bolts that lined the walls of the compacted room she had been placed in. It was then that she realized she was on board a fire navy ship. Her heart started racing again. The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was being attacked by a firebender, and then Zuko had interfered. Whose ship was she on? She could have been abducted by either of them. She swung her legs over the side of the bed that was chained to the wall and ran over to the door. As she had been expecting, it was locked. She stepped back a few steps, her heart swelling with fear and dread at the thought of what might happen to her now. Where were Sokka and Aang? Had they been captured, too?

The sound of a lock clicking, made Katara's heart leap into her throat, fearing whoever was about to come through that door. She started backing up in a vain attempt of escape until her back was pressed firmly against the wall. The door opened slowly, creaking loudly and making Katara wince at the dreadful noise. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face as the door opened and a very familiar figure came into view…

------------------------------

Zuko opened the door to the prison cell slowly, annoyed by the loud squeaking it. He stepped into the doorway and leaned against the frame, staring directly at the young waterbender, who was currently backed up against the wall on the other side of the cell. "I see you're awake," the firebender drawled. He smirked as he watched the young girl glare at him and try to pass herself off as unafraid but the Prince wasn't easily fooled. He watched as the girl took a step forward and crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes in pure disgust.

"What do you want?" she asked, managing to hold back her temper and keep a firm, yet calm tone. "And where's my brother and Aang?" she asked, her voice becoming a little more stern this time. Zuko tilted his head slightly. He had to admit, he was very impressed by the girl's bravery. He tested it by taking a step towards her, watching to see if she flinched, but she remained where she stood, arms still crossed.

"The Avatar and your idiot brother are still back on the island as far as I know. I'm sure once they find out you're gone they'll be coming after you, and then the Avatar will be mine," said Zuko. He smirked and took another step towards the waterbender, hoping to spark visible fear out of her.

"You'll never capture Aang," said the girl, her voice as cold as ice, but Zuko still managed to catch the hint of doubt and fear in her tone, and this earned another smirk from the firebender, adding on to the girl's annoyance.

------------------------------

Katara stood her ground as the firebender approached her tauntingly. She tried as hard as she could to sustain her fear, but the beads of sweat continued to pour from her skin. She carefully studied the Prince's face, wondering if perhaps he could sense her fear.

She narrowed her eyes as he stopped and cocked his head to the side in an almost amused manner. "Are you afraid?" he asked. She had been expecting him to ask this question. So he _could_ sense her fear.

"I'm not afraid of anything," Katara spat. "Especially you," she added with malice. Zuko just kept smirking and took another step forward.

"Oh, really?" he asked and then drew his hand back lightening fast. Katara watched as he began to move it forward, as if to strike her and she instinctively shut her eyes tightly and put her hands in front of her face to protect herself. Several seconds after not receiving a slap she opened her eyes and turned around. Zuko was standing there with an amused grin on his face. Shaking his head, he turned to leave but Katara stopped him with a question:

"Why'd you save me?" she asked. She watched as the firebender turned and gave her a sideways glance.

"Zhao's a bastard. Unlike him, I don't believe in hurting women, or anyone for that matter. I avoid using violence if I know I can get what I want. Only when I see no other alternative do I use violence."

"Oh, how noble," the girl said with a sneer. "Where did you come from? I don't remember seeing your ship anywhere near that island."

"I came in at a different part of the island. You wouldn't have seen me. I had to partly circle the island before I could find you. I had been trailing Zhao for about ten miles after I caught sight of his ship heading northward. We had previously stopped at a port to restock on fuel when I spotted his ship on the horizon. His ship was easy to distinguish because of the specific bow design. After I spotted him, we set out on a slow coarse in pursuit of him. I had kept a fair distance behind him in order to remain unseen. I knew he was following the Avatar so I decided to follow him instead of it being the other way around."

------------------------------

"_Cut the engine now!" the Prince demanded curtly._

"_Just what are you doing now? And how do you know he's following the Avatar?" asked Iroh._

"_He's heading for the island. I want to wait a while for them for them to set out on their search before we make our way there. I don't want to risk being spotted."_

"_Alright, but you didn't answer my second question, Prince Zuko. How do you know he's following the Avatar?"_

"_What else would he be doing, Uncle?" Zuko settled his attention onto the distant ship, which was now but a mere speck from his distance. He took out his small telescope and gazed eagerly through the end of it. Even in the dark night, he could see the ship approaching a far off island. "That has to be where the Avatar is," he said as he lowered his telescope. The larger vessel was getting farther and farther ahead, and had now become almost invisible. Only the light from the moon made the ship at all noticeable. _

"_How long do you intend to wait?"_

"_Just long enough for Zhao to make it to the island, and for him and his crew to start on the search, that way I can sneak in and try to capture the Avatar from under his nose."_

_Iroh sighed. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?"_

_Zuko tensed slightly. "Quitters never win, Uncle. I'm not about to let the Avatar get away this time. This may be my last chance."_

_Iroh shook his head and took a seat at his little table, pouring himself a cup of tea to hopefully stimulate himself. "You're really putting yourself in danger, Prince Zuko. I told you, you shouldn't have followed him. It's a bad risk."_

_Zuko whirled and shot his uncle a death glare. "Well then, what do you propose I do? If this is my last chance, I have to take it."_

"_Zhao might not even capture the Avatar. He could very easily escape his grasp and then you'll have other chances. Don't be foolish."_

_Zuko merely narrowed his eyes, and turned his attention back to the island, at which he stared longingly for some time. _

_------------------------------_

_Zhao and his crew stepped silently onto the moon-lit shore of the island, taking in their surroundings. Zhao scanned what little bit of the island that his eyes could see, and then sniffed the air. The smell of smoke could not be detected, but then again a gentle wind had picked up and caressed the island coolly, making it harder to catch the whiff of burning wood. _

_He glanced off to the right._

"_Well, I don't see them anywhere around here. We'll head this way and begin the search. We'll try circling the island before we head into the woods," he said and beckoned for his men to follow. "Let's go. Keep your weapons at the ready."_

_------------------------------_

"_I'm going to bed, Prince Zuko. You should, too," said Iroh tiredly. "A man needs his rest."_

"_I don't need any sleep," said the Prince timidly._

_Iroh shook his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Why do I even bother?" he said quietly to himself and left to go inside, feeling the chill of the night air begin to bring him discomfort._

_Zuko, however, could not be bothered by the cold night. His mind was too caught up in the task ahead in order to even notice the cold air biting at what little bit of skin was exposed. He didn't give his uncle's words much thought. This was the last chance he had. _

_Glancing at the tint of navy that slowly began to paint the sky, Zuko turned and looked up to the helm that loomed overhead. "Helmsman, head a coarse for the island! NOW!"_

_------------------------------_

_Zhao stopped suddenly, implying for his troops to stop as well. They had yet to completely circle the island, but they truly hadn't been searching all that long. He figured the search would go by more smoothly if he allowed his crew to keep to their original path, and he backtrack and begin the search in the forest._

_As he agreed with his own plan, he turned to face the troops. "I want you all to continue following the shore's path. Search the outskirts of the forest, and keep your eyes open for any smoke signals from campfires. I will retreat back the way we came and search the forest. If you find the Avatar before me, subdue him and send for me."_

_The troops nodded their heads in agreement, some muttering a firm "Yes, sir," and Zhao walked past them to head back in the direction they had came, following alongside the numerous footprints they had left, which were now slowly being erased by the tide. He tried to scan the woods but it was still far too dark to see. However, Zhao could see the faint blue hue of the sky just off the horizon, indicating that dawn was approaching and would arrive within the hour._

_------------------------------_

_The ship eased closer to the island. A very determined Prince Zuko stood at the nose of the ship, his eyes fixed on the isolated piece of land that held his most-desired prize. He saw with surprise that the island was actually larger than he had been able to tell, so perhaps finding the Avatar on said island was not as easy he had anticipated. But nevertheless, Zuko's heart was racing with excitement. _

_He shifted his gaze to his left and quickly acknowledged the very faint, gentle, golden glow of dawn in the east. Rays from the brilliant sun were just beginning to peek through openings in the clouds. _

_The ship slowly made land about two hundred or so yards away from Zhao's ship, near where the island rounded off and kept straight for about three hundred yards before it rounded again. The head of the ship cut easily into the soft, white grains of the shore, producing a small scraping sound as the sand grazed the hull. Zuko made his way to the bottom of the ship, his soldiers walking behind him and keeping up with his pace. Sunlight poured into the ship as the nose finally touched the white sands below, and Zuko led the way down the ramp to the awaiting shore. Just as Zuko's feet touched land, he noticed a numerous set of footprints heading off to the right._

_Zuko's curious eyes followed the footprints as far as they could, but the young Prince soon discovered that one set of footprints --off to the side of the others-- was traveling in the opposite direction. He crouched down above the footprints, his knees hovering above the ground, and reached out to touch the prints; they felt fresh, possibly made ten or fifteen minutes ago._

_Zuko stood and followed the prints for about ten or so feet before the sound of a female's shrill brought his head up and his senses in full alert. He took off in a sprint before he could even take another breath of air, for a split second actually forgetting about the Avatar. He followed the shores circular path, trying as hard as he could to speed up his pace. As he finally rounded the island's shore where Zhao's ship came into view, his eyes came to rest angrily upon the Admiral whose back was turned to him, and in his grasp was the young waterbender he remembered interrogating a couple of weeks back. "Where is the Avatar!" was the command shouted from the irate Admiral. After watching the girl spit in the man's face, Zuko didn't have to wait to see Zhao draw back his hand in order to make a break towards him, knowing that he wouldn't hold back in striking a girl if he was angry enough. Zhao didn't have enough honor to refrain from hitting women._

_Zuko managed to grab the man's arm before the strike could be subjected. "You!" Zhao shouted with a mixture of disgust and surprise. Zuko drew back his arm swiftly and slugged the man across the face, watching in triumph as he fell to the ground face first. He held his hand up to address his soldiers to stand their ground, and then turned to face the other man again. He watched him stand up slowly and rub the side of his face where he had been struck. _

"_Do you enjoy hurting women?" asked Zuko as he got himself into a fighting stance._

_Zhao shut his eyes and smirked._

"_Not as much as I'm going to enjoy hurting YOU!" he shouted, and then turned swiftly and shot a blast fire from his hand towards the younger firebender. Zuko acted quickly and dodged the flames, nearly getting his left shoulder scorched. He rolled across the sand a couple of times and then quickly jumped back up on his feet. Putting both his hands together, he shot a massive fire blast out of both palms. Zhao crossed his arms in front of his face and deflected the blast with ease, much like he had during the Agni Kai._

_The two firebenders began to circle each other, while staring each other down, hands in front of their faces. After a moment, Zhao raised his arm, firing a ball of flames into the air. Zuko furrowed his brow in anger as he realized that Zhao was signaling his men. He looked up and watched as the fireball flew higher and higher into the air, then slowly died out. He lowered his gaze just in time to see Zhao charge at him and throw a painful blow to his stomach. His hands went to hold his stomach as he let out a low grunt and fell to his knees._

_Zhao took a slow step back and glowered down at the Prince. "You truly are pathetic. It's amazing your father actually once thought you would become a great ruler. But I guess even the great Fire Lord can't always be right. But at least he put you in your rightful place. The Fire Nation certainly does not need someone as shameful as you to be ruler."_

_Zuko remained doubled over on the ground, holding his stomach with his right hand, and gathering sand in his left as he slowly made a fist while listening to the taunting words, and certainly not for the first time. He could feel his own body heat increasing and his anger building with each of the Admiral's words. He let out a loud yell, jumped to his feet and charged, catching Zhao off guard. He tackled him to the ground and they rolled around a few times before they started throwing punch after punch._

_Zuko felt Zhao press his foot against his abdomen, and then suddenly flip him off of him and onto his back with a loud thud. He rolled over in time to dodge a blast of fire which only singed the tip of his topknot. As he managed to get back onto his feet he noticed Zhao's soldiers come into the battle area. He felt a wave of panic tickle his stomach but he felt it pass when Zhao held up his hand, telling his soldiers that he could handle himself and to hold their ground. _

_Zuko turned his attention from the soldiers back to Zhao, who was breathing heavily from depletion of energy. Zuko then looked over at the unconscious girl and smirked before looking back at the other man. He had a new plan in mind. He knew now that trying to capture the Avatar with Zhao there to stop him was nearly impossible._

"_You're not going to win, Zhao. It's too late. I already have the Avatar on board my ship. I told you not to underestimate me." Zuko felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach as each lie rolled off his tongue, but kept a straight face. It was all part of the plan._

"_What do you mean you 'have the Avatar'?"_

"_I mean, I have the Avatar. As in, he's with me, not you. Is it that hard for you to understand?" Zuko asked, trying to keep from laughing at the expression on Zhao's face. He watched as Zhao turned his attention elsewhere, obviously trying to find the Prince's ship, but it was not within eyesight. Zuko smirked and took the opportunity to tackle the distracted Admiral to the ground. He put all his strength into keeping Zhao flat on his stomach. He grasped the man's arms firmly and held them at his sides, and then he concentrated his body heat into his palms. Zhao let out a loud yell as he felt the searing heat burn through his clothing and onto his skin. _

_Zuko increased the heat in his hands, wrinkling his nose as the smell of burning flesh invaded his nostrils, causing his stomach to roll a couple of times._

_Zhao let out another loud cry of pain and Zuko gave another triumphant smirk. 'It hurts, doesn't it?' he thought. 'I know it hurts. But you're really going to hate those nasty scars.' _

"_Get off of me!" Zhao yelled. Zuko only tightened his grip on the man's arms._

"_What's the matter? Can't take the pain?" Zuko yelled._

"_Please!" Zhao shouted, and Zuko gave an inside cry of joy at hearing his enemy's desperate plead for mercy, but still he did not let go. He was not satisfied just yet. He carefully leaned over Zhao to where he was able to speak directly into his ear._

"_Everyone has to face pain and humiliation at some point in their life, Zhao. But they must learn to face it, rather than run from it. Only then, will they be able to bear it. And the only way to do that is let suffering be your teacher," Zuko said venomously, then momentarily shuddered at the sound of his own words, remembering how deeply those words had dug into his heart on the very eve of his banishment. But a moment after the words smoothly flowed from his lips, he didn't feel such a haunting chill lap against his heart, or a painful lump form in his throat. His sedulousness had left him unnerved and ready to take the reins when he knew it was his opportunity to take control of a situation._

_With that, Zuko lifted himself from Zhao and stepped back, acting quick to prepare himself, for Zhao had already jumped to his feet and turned to face Zuko, his face twisted in rage and pain. Zuko quirked his eyebrow tauntingly and smiled, provoking Zhao into further rage. The older man gritted his teeth and began building up heat in his hands._

"_I'll kill you!" he shouted as he charged forward, outstretching his arm and pointing his flaming fist directly at Zuko's face, hoping to even the score. Zuko stepped aside just as Zhao reached him and lifted his leg swiftly and kneed Zhao in the stomach, and then lifted his arms above his head, laced his fingers together and brought his fists down onto the man's back, surely knocking the wind out of him._

_He watched as Zhao fell to the ground and lay there, motionless. "I told you to stay out of my way," said Zuko. He turned his attention back to his men, who were staring at him in astonishment.Zuko's eyes came to restupon the girl that had fallen to the ground, and then noticed the small patch of blood that had formed on the sand just below her head. "Lieutenant?"_

"_Sir?"_

"_Get the girl, and bring her aboard the ship. Take her to the sick ward and have a healer tend to her injury."_

_Jee blinked in slight confusion but did as he was told. He picked up the girl easily, and then carried her bridal style back to the ship. The rest of the soldiers followed after the Lieutenant, still in shock after witnessing the battle between the Admiral and the Prince. _

_Zuko watched as two of Zhao's soldiers approached their fallen leader, who still lay unconscious in the sand. He smiled with great satisfaction, feeling his heart swell with pride at knowing he had gotten the better of Zhao once again._

_------------------------------_

Katara blinked, and then suddenly mentally cursed herself for being so careless and not paying better attention. They had had plenty of experience in the past to know that Appa was very easy to spot, and that the Fire Nation certainly wasn't going to hesitate to follow the flying bison if they every so much as caught a momentary glance.

"You've got a lot of nerve," the waterbender spat. Zuko did not express any other emotion or expression other than the one his face currently held: satisfaction, with a hint of amusement.

Katara turned her back to the Prince, her arms still crossed. She dug her fingernails into her arms angrily, ignoring the pain that shot up through her arms. "You won't win," she said coldly. "The Fire Nation will never see victory." She could practically see the smirk forming on Zuko's face.

"Whatever you say," was all he said. Katara heard him turn to leave and she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She listened as the door was slammed shut, and then click as the lock was set. She let out a tired sigh and walked over to sit on the bed again, hoping that she would not be condemned to stay here very long.

TBC…

**A/N: **Since everyone was so nice in the reviews, I decided to give you all a bigger chapter this time. Don't get used to them though. I was just in a writing mood this time. There probably won't be another chapter until after this week's episode. I think a new episode will get me in an excellent writing mood!

**A/N2: **This chapter has gone through a number of changes, so if this isn't your first time reading it, I'm trying to make it to where I'M satisfied with it.


	3. No Need for Friends

_Chapter III_

**No Need For Friends**

The calming sound of the waves crashing onto the shore woke Aang from his slumber. He sat up slowly, arching his back as he stretched and then rubbed the sleep from his eyes as his vision adjusted to the bright sun. He looked over towards where Katara had laid down to sleep just last night, but saw that her sleeping bag was empty. Arching an eyebrow, Aang looked to his right to where Sokka was. He was still sound asleep. What a surprise.

Aang reached over to his friend and gently shook his shoulder, hoping to wake him. No such luck.

"Hey, Sokka. Sokka, wake up. Katara's gone. Sokka? Wake up!" Aang shook the boy's shoulder a little more roughly.

"No, Momo that's my bread…give it back," Sokka mumbled in his sleep.

"SOKKA!"

Sokka sat upright, now fully alert and grabbing his club as he looked around frantically. "What! What happened? Are we under attack?"

Aang stood up and took a look at his surroundings, which had not been visible to him the previous night. "No, Katara's gone. You think she went off to get food or something?"

Sokka yawned and scratched the back of his head. "Maybe. I hope so, but we might as well go look for her. After all, women have no sense of direction."

Aang rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and you have no sense period," he said quietly to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Come on, Momo," said Aang. The flying lemur leapt onto Aang's shoulder and wrapped his tail around his neck. Aang looked up at the sun's position. He could tell the sun had risen a little over an hour ago. "Let's head into the woods."

"Should we split up and look for her?" asked Sokka.

"No, I think we should just stay together, just to be safe. Let's head this way."

Both boys strode deeper into the woods, listening closely for the sound of far off rustling leaves or the snapping of twigs, but all they heard were birds singing their morning tunes. Their worry slowly began to grow, and fearing the worst began to become more of an option. "How far could she have gone?" asked Sokka. "Wouldn't she have told us where she was going?"

"I don't know. I don't think she would have wandered off far. She has to be around here. Let's try this way. It looks like the trees are thinning out through here. Maybe there's a stream through there or something." They headed off to the right, and Sokka unsheathed his boomerang. He held it up, ready for any possible attack that may occur. They came into a clearing where they saw the ocean and white sands. "Katara!" Aang yelled. "Where is she?"

"Hey, Aang!" Sokka yelled. Aang turned his attention toward Sokka's direction and noticed he was kneeling on one knee in the sand, running his fingers across the moistened grains. "Someone's been here. Look."

Aang walked over to where Sokka was kneeling and saw that there were a number of footprints in the sand. Judging by their uneven positions, there appeared to have been a fight. Aang looked around and saw that the footprints went in all sorts of directions, but then something else caught his eye - blood. There was dried blood on a large stone. "I really don't like the looks of this," said Aang nervously.

"Then you're really not going to like this," said Sokka. Aang turned his head to his left where he saw Sokka standing in the wet sand, his eyes fixed on something. When Aang came to stand beside him, he saw that there was a deep hole in the sand, currently filling with water. However, it did not look like a hole; it was more of a very deep, straight gash.

As Aang looked off to the left he saw that there was another cut in the sand, about ten feet away. His eyes widened. "These were made by ships. Fire navy ships," he said fearfully. "One of them must have Katara."

Sokka became very alert at hearing these comments. "Then we have to go find her!" Sokka yelled, in a state of panic as he started running back to camp.

"Sokka, how are we going to find her? We don't know where they went."

"Are you saying we should just forget about her and let the Fire Nation do whatever they want to her?" Sokka asked angrily.

"No!" said Aang defensively.

"Look, before my father left our village, he made me promise to look after and protect my sister, and I'm _not _about to break my promise!" said Sokka. Aang nodded and followed after the other boy back to camp. The search was not going to be easy.

------------------------------

Zhao stood on the deck of his ship, staring out at the clear waters angrily. The pain of his scorched arms had not subsided. Zuko had certainly crossed the line this time. "Faster!" he yelled. "Full steam!"

"Sir, we are already sailing at full steam. Perhaps you should sit down and relax for a moment?" asked a soldier calmly.

Zhao grabbed the man around the neck, catching him off guard. "I don't _need _to relax, do you understand, you moron!" he yelled.

"Y-Yes, s-sir," the soldier literally choked out. Zhao shoved the man away from him in disgust and turned his attention the front again. He reached out and gripped the railing of the ship, the heat radiating from his hands causing the metal to glow in response to the heat. He could not believe this. How could Zuko have managed to capture the Avatar before him? Three times now that he had lost the Avatar, but this was by far the most humiliating loss. After all, he had been outdone by Prince Zuko, and that was not the first time. And to top it all off, he was a child!

The Admiral huffed scornfully, and released the railing as a sense of calm suppressed his temper. What did it matter anyway? It was not as if Ozai would grant Zuko his throne and honor anyway. But still, Zhao wanted that glory. He wanted the whole nation to remember him for being the one who put the Avatar in chains, and bringing him to the Fire Lord. But, as always, Zuko managed to play the role of being an obstacle.

------------------------------

Zuko closed the door to the waterbender's prison cell and locked it. He leaned against the door for a moment, listening to hear the girl's movements but heard nothing. He turned and headed down the hall, passing all the other prison cells, and then walked up the stairs to the boat deck. He saw his uncle sitting in front of his little table with a dragon-shaped kettle of tea. He could tell it was freshly made since the kettle was still steaming.

"Ah, just in time for some tea. Come and sit down. You've been on your feet all day," said Iroh as he polished off his sungi horn. "I thought I'd play a little music."

"But it's not Music Night," said Zuko, and then muttered a "Thank Agni," under his breath.

"Oh come now, Prince Zuko. You may find that a little music can calm your nerves. Please, sit with me and have some tea. You'll feel much better."

Zuko sighed and finally gave in. He sat down across from his uncle, watching as he lifted the kettle and carefully poured a cup of ginseng tea and pushed it towards him. He wrapped his fingers around the small cup and lifted it slowly, bringing it to his lips. He normally did not like tea, but he drank it anyway, despite his dislike for it. If he had to drink any tea he preferred jasmine, but ginseng was his uncle's favorite, after all.

He watched as his uncle put his lips to the large instrument and began to play. Normally Zuko would have found the useless instrument annoying, but he propped his head up with his hand and closed his eyes as the soft, gentle tone of the music filled his senses and calmed his nerves. It _was _rather relaxing, he hated to admit; but as he listened to the soft music, thoughts began racing through his mind; thoughts he did not want to think about.

It had been a week, one full week since he had snuck into the fortress and recovered the Avatar. But the boy had escaped his grasp once more, but the worst part of it was that he had _let _him get away. "_If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends?" _Every time he repeated that question in his mind, he grew more and more angry, and even confused by the innocent voice that somehow seared itself into his memory. He could never be friends with the Avatar. He did not need friends. All he needed was to reclaim his honor and his rightful place on the throne.

Zuko stood up and stormed off angrily. "Where are you going, Prince Zuko?" Zuko ignored his uncle's question and walked to the stern of the ship rather than to his stuffy room. He needed the air.

He leaned against the railing, looking over the back of the ship at the trail of white, bubbly water the ship left behind it. He did not want to think about it but he just couldn't help it. What was it like living over one hundred years ago when things were at peace? No wars going on or people dying at the hands of power hungry, predatory-like firebenders? Zuko shook his head fiercely as if he were arguing with himself. He was not like that. He was _not _power hungry. All he wanted was his honor back, and to return home. Was that so wrong?

But still, it must have been nice living during a time when there was no fighting or chaos.

Zuko exhaled as time dragged on. The whispering wind blew in the opposite direction of the ship's course, blowing the split ends of Zuko's hair against the fair skin just below the outline of his chin. After several quiet moments of concentrating on the calm, forever-going ocean, the Prince began to imagine himself back home again, standing before his father, who was proudly welcoming him home with open arms. Zuko had imagined it so many times before, but always viewed it as a wondrous dream that seemed so far out of reach.

These thoughts were unwillingly pushed aside as the young airbender's voice invaded his mind again. The Avatar had even saved his life, something Zuko just did not understand at all and constantly tortured himself with trying to find a suitable explanation pertaining to the airbender's actions. Perhaps it was just a matter of returning the favor. Yes, that must have been it. But still, this boy, whose sole purpose was to restore balance into the world and stop the Fire Nation from seeing victory, wanted to be friends with _him, _Prince of the Fire Nation?

Ok, so he _did _admit to himself that he certainly wished it could be different. And so many times he had replayed the Avatar's words in his mind and wished he had told him yes. Yes, he wished he did not have to carry on with this mission, though he would never admit it to anyone. But it could not happen and it never would. He _had _to capture the Avatar in order to restore his honor. And nothing was going to change that. No stories, no explanations, or innocent little waterbenders would ever change that.

TBC…

**A/N:** Ok, The Blue Spirit, even though it was the best episode yet, has sort of ruined this story already. I think we can tell by now that Zuko is most likely going to turn good. I'll try to make sense out of this story. I want to try and make it to where it isn't necessarily an AU.


	4. Trip To the Market

_Chapter IV_

**Trip to the Market**

Katara placed her head in her hands as she sighed deeply in frustration and anguish. Why was this happening? How were Aang and Sokka going to find her? And even if they did, what if they ended up getting captured as well? What if Zuko finally succeeded this time? Katara's heart swelled with fright at the thought of her brother and best friend--her family--being locked up, all because of her. '_Blaming yourself isn't going to make matters any better' _a voice in her head told her.

Her breathing quivered slightly as she tried to calm herself. She reached up to touch her necklace but all she felt was her bare neck. Closing her eyes, she forced herself not to cry. She missed her mother so much.

"I need your strength more than anything right now, Mom."

------------------------------

Iroh got up and made his way to the back of the ship where he saw his nephew venture off to. When he came around to the back he saw him leaning over the back of the ship, his gaze fixed on the water that the ship left behind as it moved on. He sighed and walked over to stand next to his nephew. "What's troubling you?"

"Nothing, Uncle, I'm just tired," Zuko replied quietly.

"Have you talked to the young waterbender much?"

"No," Zuko snapped. "Why would I?"

"I was just wondering. What's her name?"

"I don't know. Ka-something."

"Why don't you let her out of that old cell? It has to be dreadful staying in there. Tell her that I'd like to talk with her."

Zuko arched his brow in confusion. "But Uncle, she's a prisoner. Since when do we treat prisoners like guests?"

"Zuko, do you not have anymore respect for women than that?" Iroh asked with a frown. "You were raised to respect women. Disrespect towards the fairer sex is dishonorable."

Well, that did it.

"Fine!" barked the now very disgruntled Prince. "I'll go fetch our 'guest'."

Iroh smiled to himself in satisfaction and quickly returned to his tea.

------------------------------

Zuko, slowly and angrily, headed down the stairs that led to the dark, doleful prison hold. '_Why is he always so nice?' _he asked himself mentally, thinking back to uncle. He pulled out the brass key to the cell and shoved it into the keyhole. Hearing the click of the lock, he pushed the door open quickly so he would not have to hear the annoying squeaking of the hinges and looked over to the left where he saw the young girl, asleep on the old bed. He was surprised she could sleep on something that looked so uncomfortable. He walked over to her and shook her roughly. "Wake up!"

"Leave me alone, Sokka," the girl mumbled, still obviously deep in slumber.

Zuko shook her again. "I said 'wake up'!" He watched as the girl sat up in alarm, her eyes wide with fear as they scanned the room. Realization settled onto her face and she let her head drop slightly. "My uncle wants to see you," Zuko said coldly and then turned to leave.

------------------------------

Katara watched as Zuko left the room. '_You didn't have to shake me so hard'_ She released a long yawn and swung her legs lazily over the bed. She still felt tired, and wanted desperately to just go collapse back onto the little bed, despite its discomfort. She wondered how much time had passed since she had been asleep. Her thoughts drifted to Aang and Sokka again. "I hope you guys are alright," she mumbled quietly to herself as she shuffled out of the room, and began making her way to the deck.

She walked up the stairs and came out onto the deck of the ship where the welcoming sun greeted her and fresh air filled her lungs. "Over here, Miss," she heard someone call from behind. She turned her head and found an elder man sitting in front of a small table, a cup of tea in hand. "Come and sit," he said kindly. So this was Zuko's uncle? She remembered seeing the man once before but she was not sure exactly who he was. She sat down across from the man and placed her hands in her lap. She felt rather awkward, being treated so nicely by a firebender. "Tea?" the man asked, the cheer never once depleting.

"Oh…sure. Thank, you," said Katara. She watched as the older man slowly poured a cup of freshly made tea, then push it towards her. She smiled and picked the cup up carefully, slowly placing it against her lips and taking a small sip. She looked over to the right and saw Zuko, his back turned to them and leaning against the railing.

"Forgive me," said the man. "My name is Iroh."

Katara's attention returned to the old man. "Iroh? Wait…_General _Iroh?"

"Ah, you've heard of me," Iroh stated with a smile. "Well, I'm retired now. I'm getting far too old to keep up with this war anymore," Iroh said as he took another sip of tea. "My tired, old bones just can't take it. Excuse me, I didn't catch your name."

"Oh…Katara."

"Katara…that's a lovely name."

Katara blushed lightly. "Thank you," she said quietly and lowered her head, trying to hide her now reddened face. This earned her another smile from the retired General.

"I hope my nephew hasn't proven to be the worst host. He can be very difficult, you know," said Iroh matter-of-factly.

"Oh no, not at all," said Katara sarcastically. "He's just a little ball of sunshine."

Iroh laughed at the statement.

"Oh…he's not as bad as you may think. He's stubborn, yes. But believe it or not, that's one of his good qualities. I've known him his entire life, from the day he was born, and I tell you, once he sets his mind to something, he never gives up trying to accomplish it. But I think you already knew that," said the old man with a laugh. "But when he first started his search for the Avatar, I was certain he would never find him. After all, the Avatar was believed to be dead. But he never gave up trying, no matter how hard I tried to get him to give up the search. Training became a necessity, while sleeping became a privilege. He pushed himself so hard, and all I could do was worry for his health since he would never listen to me even when I told him what he had done was enough. No, it was only enough when _he _thought it was enough, but it was never enough for him.

"For two years, he continued his search; trained every morning, meditated every night, and barely took a moment to eat or sleep. But finally, after two long years of endless searching, he finally found the Avatar. I can't say I was happy though. Because truly, nothing had changed. He was right back where he started: training for long hours of the day, barely eating, and always on his feet. In fact, things were even worse after he had found the Avatar. I know he'll go to unspeakable limits in order to return home."

Katara furrowed her brows, looking questioningly over at the Prince, who still had his back turned to them. "Why does he want to capture Aang? I remember him telling me something about his honor, but I still don't understand. And, if you don't mind me asking, how did he get that scar?" Katara had always been curious about Zuko's scar. It had been the first thing her eyes settled upon when he came to her village, and the question concerning its existence had always been on the tip of her tongue, always waiting to be asked.

Iroh's face fell as he shifted his gaze over to his nephew, wondering if he could hear every word they had spoken over the last few minutes. His attention returned to Katara. "I would like to tell you, but it's really not my place. I didn't even want to tell the crew, but their patience with him was hanging on by a thread, and I didn't want to risk waking up the next morning and finding that they had rebelled against him and chucked him overboard. I think it would be best if it came from him. Perhaps you can persuade him into telling you."

"Right, sure," said Katara casually as she sipped her tea.

Iroh smiled. "Yes, it'll be hard, but you seem like a very smart girl. Zuko's been through a lot, and I think what he truly needs more than anything is someone to talk to. And I know he gets tired of talking to me. Not that he actually talks that much anymore," said Iroh sadly. "I think he needs someone around his own age. I know you don't like him or trust him for that matter, and I don't blame you for that. All I'm asking is that you give him a chance."

"Well, I'd like to, but it's kind of hard for me to do that when he's trying to capture my best friend, and using _me _as bait."

"That's why I want you to get to know him, and try to talk to him. I'm hoping that maybe you can get him to change his mind about all this. In all honesty, I'm ready for this war to be over."

Katara sighed and looked down at her hands, muttering, "Me, too."

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go tell the helmsman to change coarse. We need to head to the nearest market to stock up on supplies," Iroh said as he stood up to leave. He stopped when he saw Zuko heading over to him.

"Can I put the prisoner back in her cell now?" Zuko asked irritably.

Katara bit her lip to keep from barking an insult at the Prince.

"Zuko, please show some respect for the girl. Let her enjoy the fresh air. I know those old cells don't even have windows."

"Do I look like I care?"

"The girl stays here. Why don't you keep her company?" asked the elder firebender, enjoying the sour look on Zuko's face.

"I'd rather have my tongue cut out."

"You and me both," Katara muttered, averting her eyes from the Prince's murderous glare.

Iroh quickly intercepted the rising argument by clearing his throat. "Please excuse me." Iroh turned to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"To tell the helmsman to change coarse."

"Why?" asked Zuko. "And if I hear the words, "lotus tile" once-"

"We need supplies. We're running short on food and we're in need of medical supplies as well. There's a market about five miles southwest. It shouldn't take long," said Iroh as he made his way though the hatch. Zuko grunted, and then looked over at the girl. She sat with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, almost as if she was expecting him to say some rude remark. Though Zuko wanted to, he really did not feel like arguing with anyone at that particular moment. He decided to head back to his quarters and meditate for a while, which he had been doing a little too much lately.

------------------------------

Katara watched as Zuko walked back inside the ship and slammed the door behind him. She sighed in relief, not wanting to be alone with him for a minute. She looked down at her still steaming cup of tea and stared at her rippling reflection. How did Iroh expect her to persuade Zuko into opening up to her? How did he expect her to even change his mind about capturing Aang? It did not seem to make sense. It was like asking her to push a boulder up an icy mountain.

The ship suddenly began to turn and Katara had to grab the edges of the table to keep from tumbling over. She reached out her arm and stopped the dragon-shaped kettle from sliding off the small table and shattering. Once the ship was sailing steadily again, Katara took another sip of tea and looked around at her surroundings. There was not much to look at except her own element that surrounded her. The sky was almost completely clear except for a few wispy clouds that seemed to swirl very slowly as she stared at them for awhile.

Before she knew it, the ship began to dock at a large port. Katara turned to face Iroh, who stepped outside onto the deck again. She watched as he stretched, and then looked over towards her with a smile. "Well, are you coming?" he asked. Katara raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Oh, come now. Being cooped up on this dreaded ship isn't healthy. You should stretch you legs," said Iroh cheerfully. Katara smiled.

"Alright," she said, and then stood up to follow. Iroh began to lead her to the bottom of the ship where they would make their exit, but then he stopped.

"Hold on," he began. "Wait right there," he said, and then walked off, leaving Katara standing by herself, wondering where Iroh had walked off to so suddenly.

"Uncle, I don't want to!" Katara heard Zuko yell from within the ship. She then saw Iroh appear again, his hand on Zuko's shoulder, guiding him forward.

"Zuko, you spend all your time in your quarters. The only time you come out is when you want to know if the Avatar has been spotted. This will be good for you. Why don't you take young Katara with you and keep her company?" Iroh asked as he smiled at the disapproving look on the young waterbender's face. Of course the look on Zuko's face was no different.

"Uncle, I said 'no' and I mean it! What am I suppose to do at a market!"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe browse some of the vendors and see what interesting things you might find," Iroh said as he placed a small sack of gold, silver, and copper pieces into Zuko's hand. "Now come on," Iroh said gleefully and pushed a now very angry Zuko forward. Katara followed close behind but kept her distance from the agitated Prince, not wanting to be in the range of his seemingly radiating glare. A couple of soldiers accompanied them in case they needed to carry supplies back to the ship.

They made their way down the steep ramp which was once the nose of the ship and stepped onto grassy land. Katara looked around at the villagers who seemed to be passing them with frightened looks on their faces. She could not blame them. But she noticed that they were also looking at her with confused looks as well. Well, that made sense, too. It was not every day that a Water Tribe girl was seen walking around with firebenders.

They all made their way toward the market, passing children who always ran away yelling or crying to their mothers. Katara hated it, and judging by the expression on Iroh's face, she could tell he hated it, too.

"This is the only reason why I hate coming to a market," he started. "We can rarely go anywhere without people running away from us or screaming," said the elder man with a sigh. "Sometimes we're not welcome at all! A few times we've come to Earth Kingdom markets and are always asked to leave. Any other firebenders probably wouldn't leave so kindly without a fight, but I really don't like to cause trouble."

Katara's respect for this man began to grow even more.

"Well, I'm going to get the food and supplies. You two may go where you please. Meet back on the ship in about thirty minutes." Iroh turned to leave, the two soldiers following after him. The two teenagers were left standing alone with only the tension between them to keep them company. Katara glanced at Zuko who had his arms crossed and a very annoyed expression on his face. Katara sighed. Well, if she was expected to persuade Zuko into changing his ways, then perhaps now was a good time to at least start talking to him.

"Well…do you…ugh...want to look around?" she asked nervously. Zuko blew a puff of smoke from his mouth and made a 'pfft' sound. "Whatever," was his only response. Katara began to walk a little ahead of the Prince, glancing back at him a few times to see if he was actually following her, and he was, rather close, too. But then she remembered that she was his prisoner, and he would naturally follow close to her so to make sure she didn't attempt to make an escape. She didn't like not being trusted, but she preferred that over being put in chains and locked up.

She made her way over to one of the vendors, which, for a moment, seemed to be unoccupied until someone suddenly popped up from behind the vendor and peered down at her surprised face.

"Come looking for a good bargain?" the man asked in a hyper kind of tone. Katara stepped back, surprised by the man's perkiness, and then approached the vendor again.

"Oh, umm, I'm sort of just browsing. I don't have any money," said Katara, frowning. The man's face fell.

"Oh. Shame," he said. Well, there went the perkiness. Katara thought about going somewhere else but she was too intrigued by all the fascinating items that were currently laid out in front of her. There was a wide variety of jewelry and different types of pottery. There were also a couple of beautifully designed goblets as well. She fingered them with interest and fascination, and then turned her attention back to the jewelry. There were a few necklaces and bracelets that she admired very much. She glanced back at Zuko who was just standing by himself, looking quite bored.

"Why don't you come and look at this stuff?" Katara asked. The Prince just huffed and turned his attention away from the girl. "Oh, come on. It's not going to kill you to look!" Katara said irritably. Zuko let his arms drop quickly to his side and he looked up at the sky, letting out a loud, grumbling sigh. He staggered over to the vendor, crossing his arms again. Katara smirked, and then turned her attention back to the items.

It was then that she saw something that she could not turn her eye away from: a white, glass dragon, just large enough to fit in the palm of someone's hand. Its long tail coiled around itself and the glass base it was attached to. Its dark blue eyes looked back at her as she admired it. "Oh wow," she breathed. She reached out her hand and ran her index finger down the scaly back of the dragon. "It's beautiful. Don't you think it's beautiful?" Katara asked as she glanced over at Zuko. He simply shrugged and replied, "I guess," in a bored tone.

"It's twelve gold pieces," said the man, who had been watching her admire his most valuable item. '_What? Does he expect money to just pop out of thin air and into my hand?'_

"I'm sorry, but I already said I didn't have any money." She looked at the dragon again with desire. Suddenly, she heard the sound of something that sounded like coins jingling and clashing against each other. She turned her attention to the sound and saw Prince Zuko reach out his closed fist and say, "Here," to the man, who quickly held out his hand and received twelve round gold pieces. '_That jerk! So is this his way of mocking me? By buying something that I saw first and waned to buy? That selfish little-'_

Zuko took the glass dragon from the man and held it out to Katara, saying, "Here," in a flat sort of tone. Katara blinked a few times before slowly taking the dragon from the Prince. She muttered a very soft, "Thank, you," and then looked back up at Zuko, who still held his annoyed expression.

"Now let's head back to the ship. I hate these places," said Zuko as he grabbed Katara's shoulder firmly, but gently and led her forward, back to the ship. Katara held the glass dragon close to her chest, almost as if she was afraid someone might snatch it from her. Why had he bought it for her? She never thought him capable of actually doing something _nice._

As they began boarding the ship, Katara's hopes of getting the Prince to open up to her began to grow. And then perhaps she could get the straight answer as to why Zuko had to capture Aang.

Somehow, she knew it was in connection with that scar.

TBC…

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait. I was trying to think of a good way to get a little romantic interaction between Katara and Zuko. I know, not very much but it's something for you all to munch on.

**A/N 2:** I've actually decided to bring an original character into this story. I don't plan on making him the center of the universe so don't start getting worked up about it lol. I'm not going to give away any descriptions about him, you'll just have to wait for when he appears. When will he appear? I really don't know yet. It might not be for a while.


	5. The Admiral's Command

_Chapter V_

**The Admiral's Command**

After making their arrival back aboard the deck of the docked vessel, Zuko ventured back to his quarters, but not before informing two guards to keep a close watch over Katara, which she, of course, found incredibly annoying. She held the small, glass dragon in her lap as she continued to run her fingers over the smooth, cold texture of the glass, hardly believing that it was hers now. Perhaps Iroh was right, maybe Zuko was not as bad as he seemed.

The ship suddenly began to move and back out of the port, indicating that Iroh had finally returned. Once the ship was sailing smoothly again, he appeared on deck. He spotted Katara and smiled at her, and then settled himself down in front of the table. "Well, we've got enough supplies to hopefully last us a couple of weeks." Katara watched as the retired general poured a cup of tea. As the older man lifted the cup to his lips he noticed the small dragon in the girl's hands. "Oh, what's this?" he asked, now very curious. Katara held it out to Iroh and he took it carefully, now realizing that it was made of glass. "Where'd you get this?" he asked as he examined the small, glass item with fascination.

"Zuko bought if for me," Katara said quietly.

"Oh, he did, did he?" Iroh said and handed the dragon back to Katara.

"Mmhmm. I don't know why, though."

Iroh studied the young girl's expression closely. She had a look of slight happiness, which was mingled with some confusion and hints of discomfort. He could tell that she indeed hated being here, kept as a prisoner to hopefully lure the young Avatar into a trap. Iroh sighed, dismay clearly hinted in the exhale of his steady breath. He figured he might as well start a pleasant conversation to elude the distressing thoughts. "So, young Katara, you are from the South Pole, am I correct? And you are on your way to the North Pole I'm guessing?"

"Yes," said Katara as she lifted her gentle gaze from the dragon and to the elder firebender in front of her. "How did you know?"

"Well, Prince Zuko and I have noticed, ever since we started following after you, that you have been heading northward. I take it the young Avatar has not completely mastered waterbending?"

"No, but he's getting better. I think if we find a good teacher, he'll be able to master it within a week at the very least if he trains hard enough. When I had first started teaching him, he amazed me with his abilities. Every move I introduced to him, he mastered, and did it better than me, even." Katara gave a soft laugh. "I ended up getting really jealous. That's one of the reasons why I stole that scroll. I just wanted to prove that I could be as good as he was."

Iroh chuckled as he stroked his beard. "Seems to me that you have a weakness that most benders have when they're young. The fact is you try too hard."

Katara arched a brow in confusion. Trying too hard? That was ridiculous. She never tried too hard. At least she didn't think she did. Well, maybe she did try a little too hard, but since when was that a bad thing? "But I don't understand. I thought you had to try hard. I thought the only way to become a great bender was to give it your all."

Iroh smiled. "Yes, you're right in some cases. But what I'm talking about is you're trying too hard, not for yourself, but for others. The weakness is you are trying to prove yourself to someone else, rather than yourself. All your concentration is not on your bending, but on your desire to prove to someone that you can be just as good, or better yet, better than they are. I know it doesn't make much sense but I know this for a fact because when I was a youngster, my brother was a much more skilled firebender than I was and he was younger than me. He was already picking up firebending when he was five. Five! And there I was, only about a year from becoming a teenager and I still couldn't master even the simplest of moves. I refused help from trainers. I just wanted to prove that I could firebend without someone's help. My brother could do it, so why couldn't I?

"Finally, my mother sat me down and told me about my problem. She said I had the same problem that you have: I was trying to prove myself to someone else, and not myself. After that, I started training alone, away from my brother, and received help from trainers and learned that my mother was indeed right."

"I guess that makes sense. When I first started teaching Aang, I didn't think he would pick anything up that quickly."

"Yes, so you didn't have a problem bending at that point."

"But then when I saw he could pick up moves faster and better than me…"

"You got competitive," Iroh finished for Katara. "It's very common, young Katara. I'd be surprised if benders did not get competitive with their fellow benders. It's really just a part of learning."

Katara had grown silent as she let the words of the experienced firebender sink in. It made perfect sense. Jealousy had driven her to stealing the scroll. All she really wanted at the time was to prove to Aang that she could waterbend better and faster than him. She had felt then that she was _supposed _to bend better anyway. After all, she had been waterbending for a long time, and without a teacher, even, but Aang on the other hand, had never tried it until that time.

Suddenly, the door opened and Zuko stepped out onto the deck, his stone cold expression in place like it always was. He glanced at his uncle, and then set his steel gaze on Katara. "I think she's had enough fresh air, Uncle." He pointed to the guard standing on his right and said, "Take her back to her cell."

"My apologies," said Iroh sympathetically and Katara nodded in understanding. The guard grabbed her by the arm firmly and led her down into the prison hold where she would be staying for the rest of the day and night.

------------------------------

The guard stuck the key into the keyhole and opened the door quickly and shoved Katara inside roughly. As soon as the door was closed and locked, Katara muttered unheard insults at the guard, but since he had already locked the door and left, Katara was really only insulting the door, which was now locked and probably would not be unlocked for a while, much to her dislike.

Katara sighed, and then slowly sat down on the stiff bed that was chained to the wall. She glanced at the glass dragon in her hands. Maybe she was wrong about Zuko. He certainly did not seem like someone who could easily open up to anyone. She could clearly see that he did not even like to open up to his own uncle. Never had she seen him smile. He smirked, yes, but a smirk was not a smile to her. It was just a mocking expression he gave when he knew he had won or was going to. But his uncle had said that he really needed someone around his own age to talk to. But how old was he? Eighteen? Nineteen? It was obvious he was still a teenager, judging by his fairly shallow voice, and his young facial features. Even with the scar, Katara could tell he was in fact still a teenager. How old did Iroh think she was? Surely he didn't think her to be Zuko's age? But she could not be the judge of that since she didn't even know his age.

Katara sat the glass dragon down by her bedside and she then lay back into the pillow. Some of the ends of the feathers inside the pillow were protruding from the thin fabric, poking at Katara's head painfully. She sighed in annoyance and flipped the pillow over, pleased to find that none of the feathers were poking through the other side. She let her eyes open and close for a few minutes until they finally remained closed, allowing sleep to take her.

------------------------------

Zuko's concentration was broken as a steady knocking sounded in his good ear. He balled his fists in frustration. "Go away, I'm busy!" he yelled, expecting whoever stood on the other side of the door to be one of the guards.

"Busy doing what, exactly?" came Iroh's always calm and happy tone. Zuko sighed. Was he ever going to have a moment's peace?

"Come in," he said irritably.

The door opened slowly, and the retired General stepped into Zuko's room, which he rarely did. He knew well enough that when Zuko came to his quarters, he did not like to be disturbed unless it was absolutely necessary. Though this particular visit was not necessary, Iroh was not going to wait any longer to ask his question which he had been dying to do so for the past twenty minutes.

He walked up behind his nephew and peered over his shoulder, seeing the four lit candles residing on the small table in front of him. Each little flame flared every few seconds, and then slowly died down back to their original state as Zuko steadily exhaled.

"So, young Katara tells me that you bought her an antique dragon from one of the vendors at the market," said Iroh with a hint of happiness in his tone.

"So?"

Iroh could tell by the increasing flare of the flames that Zuko was getting very agitated. But Iroh was so used to this he always looked at it as an involuntary response. It was like breathing to him.

"Well, it's just not something I was expecting from you."

"You know I hate shopping. I hate being in places like that. I just wanted to leave! I knew if I bought her something she liked then she'd be pleased and we wouldn't have to stay there any longer. And besides, the man I bought it from looked as if he was ready to strangle one of us if we didn't buy _something_."

Iroh nodded. "I see."

"Why? Did you suspect I had other reasons?" Zuko asked, his focus on the dancing flames never faltering.

"No, not at all," Iroh lied.

"Well, if you don't have anymore questions to ask, I'd like to be alone now."

Iroh sighed. "Very well, then." Without another word, Iroh turned and left Zuko alone to his meditating. '_Stubborn brat.'_

------------------------------

Sokka ran his index finger over the four molars of his knife. Every few seconds, he glanced out at the calm ocean, hoping to see a long trail of smoke somewhere that would indicate a Fire Navy ship's distant presence.

Aang passed a concerned glance back at Sokka, who sat quietly in the back of the saddle where he usually settled himself if he were not the one steering the flying bison, which he did from time to time. Momo lay curled up on his shoulder, one of his back legs twitching while he slept. Sokka's grip had tightened around the thick handle of the knife, his knuckles turning white as a response. "I'm going to kill, Zuko," said Sokka as he ran his finger over the blade of his knife, careful to avoid the sharp edge that threatened to bite into the tender flesh of his finger.

"How do we know Prince Zuko has Katara?" Aang asked as he turned his distraught attention to the front again. "There were two ships, remember?"

"Well, one of them had to be Prince Zuko's," said Sokka knowingly. "Don't know about the other one. Maybe he has other ships at his command. He's a prince, remember?"

"I don't know," said Aang quietly. He was well-aware that the entire Fire Nation was after his hide now, rather than just Prince Zuko, but he had a strong feeling that the other ship belonged to the firebender who had held him prisoner in the fortress just a week ago. And he also got the feeling that he and Zuko were enemies. Though the certainty of this possibility was not yet one hundred percent, it seemed plausible. After all, Zuko had snuck into the fortress, fought against dozens of his own people, just to recover him from them. It was clear now that whatever Zuko's reasons were for wanting to capture him, they were personal. But for the mean time, Aang pushed these thoughts aside. The only thing that mattered at the moment was finding Katara. But just as his mind settled back to finding the waterbender, he saw that the sun was beginning to set. "I think we should make camp somewhere."

"Why?"

"Sokka, it's getting late. I want to keep looking just as much as you do, but I know Appa's tired and we have to rest, too."

"But they'll get farther away from us," said Sokka.

"I know," said Aang in a sad tone. "But we'll start the search again as soon as the sun comes up. We'll make a few stops at villages or markets we pass along the way and ask if anyone has seen any ships passing along the coast. That's our best option."

Sokka sighed in defeat. "Yeah, alright."

"We'll find her, Sokka. Don't worry."

------------------------------

Katara's eyes fluttered open slowly, and she was suddenly greeted by surrounding, uncomfortable darkness. Though there were no windows, Katara knew it was dark out now. It was easy to tell night from day from the little light that shined through the tiny window on the door of the prison cell. But there was no light shining through it, indicating that it was night time. How late, she didn't know.

The sound of a key being placed into the lock made her jump slightly and back away from the door again. She did not know who it was this time. She heard the door open and a small flame ignited in thin air, revealing Iroh's cheerful face.

"I'm sorry. I should have lit the lamps earlier so you wouldn't completely be in the dark," said the man as he lit the lamps that were built into the wall of the cell. Light stained the walls and ceiling, now making it easier to see. Katara looked down and saw that a tray of food had been brought to her while she was sleeping. She did not realize she was hungry until she saw the food. She picked up the tray and set it carefully on her lap. It looked like a bowl of noodles and a small loaf of bread. Katara had not eaten anything all day long, and part of yesterday, and now that she smelled the food in front of her, her stomach gave a loud growl, almost as if begging for her to eat it. And eat it she did. "I apologize again for these arrangements," said Iroh as he glanced around the small cell, wrinkling his nose in disapproval. He suddenly chuckled. "This is going to sound silly, but I've been on this ship for two years now, and this is the first time I've actually seen these prison cells. I knew they certainly weren't the most luxurious, but I didn't think it was this bad."

"It's alright," said Katara as she finished the loaf of bread. She was not able to eat all of the noodles. Since it had been over twelve hours since she had last ate, her stomach had practically shriveled up, and it did not take much to fill her up.

"My goodness, and that bed," said Iroh as he pointed to the small bed Katara was currently sitting on. Iroh scratched the back of his head and said, "I'd probably break it the second I sit on it."

Katara laughed softly. "It's alright, really." Though this was not her first time being inside a prison cell, this was certainly the worst one she had been in. But she was not one to complain. What could she do anyway?

"Well, try to get a little more sleep. Tomorrow's a new day after all," said Iroh, leaving the cell and closing the door behind him. Katara heard him lock the door and knew he was just doing it because he had to, not because he wanted to.

Once she had satisfied her hunger, Katara sat the tray down by the bed and then lay back down again. Though she really wanted to see Aang and Sokka again, she actually hoped that they wouldn't find her for a couple of days. If she was going to have any chances of talking some sense into Prince Zuko, she was going to need time.

------------------------------

The night came, and it went very swiftly. As the first rays of light painted over the red, morning sky, Zhao stepped out onto the deck of his ship, circles now beginning to show just below his eyes from lack of sleep. They were nearing Fire Nation waters, and Zhao was very angry to say the least. He still had not spotted the banished Prince's ship anywhere. How could he have possibly gotten that far ahead? After he had woken up from being knocked out by the boy, he had been told that they had left the island at least forty minutes ago. This just did not make sense. Zhao's ship was twice the speed of Zuko's. They would have seen them by now, surely.

But Zhao did not question the situation. He was too angry, and far too determined to let it bother him. Even though he did not want to admit it, it seemed that Zuko had always been one step ahead of him. And now since he had the Avatar, he could not deny that fact. '_It's a shame he's too much of a fool to realize his father doesn't want him.' _Zhao thought. He looked up at the now lit sky, and let out a loud growl of anger. A few guards looked his way but quickly turned their attention elsewhere when the Admiral shot his angry gaze towards them. They certainly did not want to risk getting thrown overboard. Even strange looks could risk that when Zhao was as angry as he was at that point.

The tired firebender shifted his gaze to his now bandaged arms. They still throbbed painfully, even with medicine applied to the burns, and it hurt terribly just to bend them. Zuko would certainly pay for this. If he ever caught up to him, that is.

The hours passed dreadfully slowly, but finally, after much anticipation, Zhao's ship made it into Fire Nation waters. But even so, it would still be another hour or so before he actually reached his destination. But as he sailed closer to the proud lands of his nation, he also dreaded what awaited him: the fact that Prince Zuko was most likely already docking at the harbor, and bringing the young Avatar in chains to the Fire Lord at that very moment. But Zhao also thought with a smirk about what the Fire Lord would say, or perhaps do. After all, as he had told the foolish Prince, Ozai did not want him home. He was a traitor; a disgrace to the Fire Nation and they were far better off without him as everyone well-knew.

Perhaps Ozai would execute the Prince and kill the Avatar as well. Even though he would simply be reincarnated, it still wouldn't happen instantaneously. By the time it did happen the comet will have already arrived and the Fire Nation will have harnessed its powerful energy and would out the remaining Nations. And then the Avatar could never be reborn again. But it still disappointed him that it was the stupid Prince who was delivering the Avatar to the Fire Lord and not him. He had wanted to capture the Avatar for many reasons, but what he wanted most was to also please the Fire Lord, and hopefully be granted his permission to marry his daughter. And in so doing, he would become Fire Lord. But it seemed that dream would continue to remain a dream, because it seemed that it was too late to stop Zuko now, but he had come too far already to turn back.

------------------------------

The sun was now high in the sky and it beat down painfully on Zhao's face as he watched the harbor come into view. As the ship began to dock, he noticed that the Prince's ship was nowhere in sight. He scanned the entire harbor for a solid two minutes but saw that Zuko's ship was indeed not there.

As Zhao stepped off his ship and onto the dock, a man in his mid thirties with a clean shaven face greeted him in a deep, crisp voice. "Good afternoon, Admiral."

"Afternoon, Sergeant Jiro," replied Zhao rather rudely.

"You look troubled, Admiral."

"Where's Prince Zuko?"

"Prince Zuko? Why would he be here, sir?"

"Because I received word from him very early yesterday morning that he had the Avatar on board his ship and I suspected he would have arrived here by now."

"No, Admiral. He's not been here. I've watched ships come in and out of this harbor all day, and I assure you, that Prince Zuko's was not one of them," said Jiro.

"I see," said Zhao as he soon realized that it had all been a trick. If Zuko really did have the Avatar then he would have arrived by now for sure if he had been traveling at full speed without stopping. This was all just a trick to throw him off his trail. And boy did it work. "So he thinks he can outsmart me and get away with it," Zhao whispered to himself. "Sergeant?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I want twelve ships at my command by dawn. I think it's time I had a little talk with a certain banished Prince."

Jiro bowed in response, and without questioning the Admiral's reasons for his desire of a fleet of ships, left him standing alone by the dock. Zhao's lost smirk found its way onto his face once again. With a fleet of ships at his command, finding Zuko would not be hard, and if the Avatar was not already in Zuko's custody, then capturing him would not be difficult either, but Zuko had to be dealt with first. After all, he was the only obstacle standing in Zhao's way, and there was only one way to take care of that: death.

TBC…

**A/N:** Ok, I hear that new episodes are to begin on September 23rd. Am I excited? Yes, but also disappointed to know that my story will be ruined but I'll just deal with it. I've also heard that Aang gives Katara a necklace O.O Well, I believe this isn't just a rumor. I'm pretty sure it's true because I saw a picture from one of the new episodes and Katara is in fact wearing a new necklace. I think the writers did that for the shippers T.T How dare they! But Zuko still has her mother's necklace so I'm hoping this will lead to a little Zutaraness in the future.


	6. Compliments

_Chapter VI_

**Compliments**

It was late morning before Aang and Sokka made their next stop. As Aang said they would do, they made a stop at the first village they came across. Near the front of the village, across a small, wooden bridge there was a large market, which was currently flooded with many Earth Kingdom villagers, scrambling about through the shops and vendors.

Sokka clutched his growling stomach, causing Aang to sigh in annoyance. "Hey, I'm only human," said the older boy. Both boys climbed off of Appa and looked around at the people who were swiftly walking around them. Most of them stopped to stare at the giant fluffy beast with the large arrow on its head. Whispers broke out, making Aang's face heat up. A slender woman, who looked to be in her early forties, approached the two boys, her face expressing a number of emotions.

"Are…Are you the Avatar?" the woman asked nervously, glancing hopefully at the arrows that covered Aang's head and hands.

"Sure am," said Aang happily. The woman's eyes lit up with relief and happiness and she fell to her knees in front of the two boys.

"I had heard the rumors that you had returned, but I was not sure if they were true! My village has lived in fear for so many years. We were starting to lose hope, but I knew you would return," she whispered. "The world needs you now more than ever."

"I know," Aang said sternly. "And I don't plan on letting the world down."

The woman stood up, shock still written all over her face. "Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked, expecting that Aang had come here for a reason.

"Well, we're looking for someone; a friend of mine. Her name's Katara. She's from the Water Tribe."

"She's my sister," Sokka chimed in.

The woman looked thoughtful for a moment. "Come to think of it, I do remember seeing a young girl here yesterday. She had braided hair and was dressed in Water Tribe attire. What I didn't understand was she was walking with firebenders."

"Can you tell us what they looked like?" asked Sokka.

"Well a couple of them were soldiers, but one of them appeared to be middle-aged, and the other looked young, and had a large scar on his face. If I'm not mistaken, I believe his name was Prince Zuko. Is there any particular reason why she would be with them?"

"He kidnapped her, that's why! I knew it! See, Aang? I told you! I know my instincts."

Aang snorted at the comment, ignoring the glare he received from the tribesman. "Can you tell us where they were headed?" he asked. The woman's face seemed to contract into a form of concentration and she looked out towards the ocean. "They headed that way, I believe," she said and pointed in the southeast direction. "They left sometime yesterday afternoon."

"Thanks for your help," said the monk as he bowed his head and then began to mount Appa.

"Wait!" said the woman. "Please take this with my gratitude," she said and held a sack of money out to Sokka. "And be careful."

Sokka looked at Aang, who looked at the woman and replied, "Thank, you. Well, Sokka, while we're here, we better go ahead and stock up on food. This might be the last market we see for a while." Sokka bolted off with the money to get food of every kind from the carts. Even in the grimmest of situations, Sokka would never lose his love for food. But Aang was hungry as well. Before they had left the island yesterday, they had grabbed a few fruits and berries to hold them over. It had been over twenty-four hours since then, and now even he was desperate to get something to eat.

He followed after Sokka and joined him in gathering fruits and vegetables for their journey.

Once they had gathered enough food to last them for a few days Aang looked to Sokka and said, "Come on, Sokka. We need to get going. The more time we spend here, the farther Katara gets away from us."

Sokka nodded his head and quickly paid for the food he had gathered and followed Aang back to Appa. "Thanks again!" Sokka yelled to the woman as he climbed on top of the flying bison. The woman simply bowed her head and waved goodbye as the large beast ascended into the air and took off, heading in the direction they hoped would soon lead them to Katara.

------------------------------

Ozai sat back in the comfort of his chair as his hard, dark amber eyes looked down at Zhao, who was currently in front of him, kneeling on one knee, and his head slightly bowed. Ozai inhaled deeply. He could smell Zhao's fear, bringing forth a great feeling of amenity. The smell of fear always gave him the feeling of complete control. "I wish you had brought it to my _attention _first before you went and ordered to have a fleet of ships at your command, Admiral. But I know of your reasons. We knew this might happen. My son has still failed to see of his banishment's true colors. He still seems to be caught in the gray area. I was hoping this would not lead to a forceful death."

The Fire Lord stood up from his throne and slowly descended down the marble staircase, slowly making his way past Zhao, who now bowed his head even more, and walked by the large portrait that hung on the wall of the enormous throne room. The radiant colors swirled and danced together in the light glow of the fire light that bathed the room. He looked at Zuko, who was at the age of nine when the portrait was painted. The young Prince had such an elegant smile; a look of pure innocence. Ozai reached out to the portrait, as if to touch it but then drew his hand back suddenly and placed both of his hands behind his back.

"I always had faith in Zuko. I thought after years of hard training and discipline, he would grow up and rule this nation without a second thought as to what he would have to do or what his responsibilities would be. I should have sensed it sooner. He's just too soft. He's just like my brother," Ozai spat. He turned around swiftly to face the still kneeling Zhao. "I promoted you for a reason, _Admiral_," said Ozai, putting emphasis into 'Admiral' to remind Zhao of where he stood in his rank. "You have always been loyal to my orders for years. You are my most favored soldier," he said slowly as he eased closer to the still-kneeling admiral, "but I cannot have my son capturing the Avatar and returning home where he is not welcome. As long as he is alive, he won't stop until he returns home. I'm leaving it to you to make sure that _doesn't _happen," said Ozai fiercely, making Zhao flinch slightly.

The Admiral stood up and turned to face Ozai, and then bowed. "I will not disappoint you, My Lord."

Ozai smirked. "You better not. Or I will strip you of your rank, and see to it that you, too, never set foot in this nation again. Now then, I suggest you make sure the fleet is being prepared. I expect you to bring the Avatar, _alive_, to me. Do you understand?"

Zhao nodded firmly. "Of course, My Lord. But first, if you don't mind, I need to write a letter."

------------------------------

Iroh had once again talked Zuko into allowing Katara freedom from her dark, cramped cell. However, she could not go anywhere within the ship or could not leave Prince Zuko's sight. She didn't understand this. It was a ship after all, and not a very big one at that. Where in the world could she go? It's not like she could make a successful escape.

She was already awake when Zuko had come to get her. She looked up when the door opened suddenly and an irritated Prince Zuko stuck his head in the cell and told her she could come out onto the deck non-too-kindly.

As she followed the Prince up onto the deck she was slowly greeted with warm sunlight that embraced her dark skin and seemed to brighten her mood, along with her surroundings. Of course she had to squint her eyes since she had been in almost total darkness for most of the night; and her eyes were still very sensitive. She looked to her left and saw Iroh sitting on a small stool and another man who was dressed in what appeared to be a dark red vest. It was then that Katara realized that Zuko was wearing the exact same attire.

"Good afternoon, Katara," said Iroh. "Did you sleep well?" he asked. He tilted his head slightly as he asked this, and judging by his hopeful sounding voice, she could tell that he knew that there was really no way she could have possibly slept well, but not wanting to put a damper on his good mood she nodded her head yes. "Prince Zuko is about to have a training session. Care to watch?" Iroh asked.

"Umm…I suppose." Why not? Maybe it would be entertaining.

Katara watched as Zuko narrowed his eyes at his grinning uncle, and then turned his attention to her and sent the same icy glare in her direction. Boy, if looks could kill…

Zuko turned around swiftly to face Lieutenant Jee. He placed his left foot in front of him and his right leg behind him as he outstretched his left arm. Jee got into a similar position. There was a good twelve foot distance between them, making Katara wonder if they would fight each other from their positions or if they would charge each other. She had never seen two firebenders battle each other before so this really would be interesting. But this was just training after all. It was not a real battle.

Lieutenant Jee was the first to attack. In one swift, graceful movement he shot out his fist and a stream of flames came shooting towards Zuko in a fluid motion. But the Prince simply blocked this attack by using his forearm to split the flames apart and send them in opposite directions. Zuko started to run towards the older man at a steady speed, ducking any flames that were shot at him. Zuko lunged forward, surprising Katara with a perfect summersault, and then came back up to his feet only a few feet in front of Jee and shot a massive ball of flames in his direction. Jee managed to get out of the flames' path, but just barely.

Both firebenders started circling each other, trying to anticipate what the other's next attack would be. Neither one of them batted an eye; they only stared straight ahead of them at each other. Sweat was already beginning to glisten on their temples, and trickle down the sides of their faces.

Katara watched with fascination, surprised that watching two firebenders spar with each other could actually fascinate her. For years Katara was used to associating firebenders with being destructive, ruthless, and aggressive. She never thought that when fighting each other, they could be so graceful in their attacks. It was almost as if they rehearsed every move, step by step and were performing it in front of an audience for the first time.

She watched as they continued to circle each other, until finally Zuko was the first to attack this time. He took a step forward, shooting another stream of flames just to distract the other man, and then jumped forward and slammed his right foot down onto the deck, flames shooting out from underneath his foot and towards the Lieutenant.

Jee had managed to deflect the Prince's first attack but wasn't quick enough for the second. Though he tried to block it, he ended up being knocked onto the deck of the ship. It was then that Iroh stood up from his chair and held up a hand. "That will be enough, Lieutenant. I'll take it from here," he said. After quickly getting to his feet, Lieutenant Jee bowed, and then left Iroh to train with his nephew. Zuko looked at him with confusion.

"What are you doing, Uncle?"

"What? Do you think I'm too old or something? Oh come now, Prince Zuko. I taught you everything you know, remember? Are you afraid of your uncle?" asked Iroh with a smirk.

Zuko smirked right back. "Of course not." He once again got into a fighting position, and Iroh did the same. Katara was definitely interested now. She could have sworn Zuko looked slightly intimidated but he still held a firm, determined expression. The two firebenders stared each other down for a few moments, concentrating on the other's movements. Then in the blink of an eye, Iroh shot out his hand, making Zuko jump slightly, but no flames were produced from the older man's fist. Instead, he shot out his other hand and flames sprouted from the tips of his fingers and towards the teenager. Zuko managed to deflect the flames, knowing that if he had simply tried to get out of the flames' path, he would have risked getting his shoulder burned.

Iroh smiled. He figured trying to trick his nephew probably wouldn't work. Even though he had gotten him to think that he was going to shoot flames at him with his left hand, he still managed to defend himself well after that. Iroh could tell that Zuko was very focused if not just a little bit nervous. He was definitely learning.

Zuko lifted his left arm swiftly and shot another stream of flames from the center of his palm, and then shifted his body to where his right foot slammed onto the deck of the ship, sending out a massive blast of fire from underneath his heel and towards his uncle. The second attack was done much more quickly than before. When he had used the similar attack against Lieutenant Jee, the second attack was several seconds after the first, giving Jee a better chance of blocking the second attack which he still wasn't able to do. But this time, the two attacks were maneuvered at almost the same time, making it more difficult.

He watched as his uncle blocked the fire coming towards his face with his arm, while at the same time stopping the fire rushing towards the bottom half of his body by using his foot to shoot fire at the approaching flames. The two streams of fire collided with each other and swirled together, now forming a powerful ball of flames, which Iroh quickly took control of once both his hands could be used again. As quickly as he had harnessed the blazing energy, he hurtled it towards his nephew, who crossed his arms in front of his face in hopes of splitting the flames apart, but the force of it was just too strong and he was knocked back onto his rear.

Iroh took a step back and crossed his arms. Zuko certainly didn't look pleased. He watched as he stood up and started to charge towards him. '_Now he wouldn't want to hurt his old uncle, would he?' _Iroh thought with amusement. He watched with a hard gaze as Zuko continued to run at him full speed, his arm outstretched and fist balled. His knuckles began to ignite with fire as he came within just a few feet of his uncle.

Iroh bent his knees slightly and blocked Zuko's arm with his own. The retired General smiled. "Always remember the first rule when it comes to firendending, Prince Zuko."

"I know, Uncle, 'Firebending comes from the breath'."

"No, not that rule," said the old man as his smile grew wider. He then swiped his leg underneath Zuko, knocking his legs out from under him and sending him flat on his back. "You must always watch your feet. But your speed is improving, and you're doing well to stick to your basics."


	7. Dinner in the Galley

_Chapter VII_

**Dinner in the Galley**

The air around her was beginning to cool with a sense of tranquility. She felt rather peaceful with being embraced by the comforting cold breeze. Being sheltered by even the slightest of cold always reminded her of where she came from.

Katara walked over towards the railing until it pressed into her abdomen. Her watchful eyes peered over the side. She still managed to hold sight of the guard out of the corner of her eye. Though she liked not being locked up in a cell all the time, she also did not like being watched over like a hawk. But once again, she did not complain.

Her eyes scanned the surface of the azure abyss, her gentle element. She did not bother trying to bend it; she had a feeling that it was forbidden, but she never took her eyes off the water as she walked along the right side of the ship, her hand running smoothly along the rail. Her eyes settled on a dolphin that was currently bow riding the ship. She envied the creature. It was free, able to enjoy life without having to be forced against its will to do that of which it does not please. It was not a prisoner like she was. But then, Katara thought for a moment. This was not too bad. Of course she wanted to go back to Aang and her brother, but Zuko had not exactly been cruel to her. Then again, that was probably because Iroh was there to prevent it. Yes, she figured that was why the Prince was so sane. If Iroh was not around to keep him under control who knows how vicious he would be.

Katara suddenly missed Iroh's company. She definitely enjoyed having him around rather than the stern-faced guards that were keeping watch over her. She simply kept her back turned to them, and her gaze focused on the ocean, the only comforting thing she could find.

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Zuko paced his room, something he normally did not do. He had already tried meditating but his concentration was just not with him this evening. He stopped suddenly and let his eyes settle on the large set of broadswords that hung in a crisscross formation on the left wall of his bedroom. His eyes then traveled downward, glancing at the scabbard and then finally the blue necklace that now rested on the table just beneath the swords. Why hadn't he given it back to her yet? He didn't need it after all.

He touched the necklace with his index and middle finger, then picked it up and wound the broken band around his fingers. How had he even known it belonged to her in the first place? Had he really been paying more attention to her than he thought? He barely had any encounters with her after all. Zuko started to blush again as he looked at the shimmering pendant. His gaze focused on the informative symbol and then he smirked. Well no wonder. It was obvious it was because of the Water Nation symbol that he knew. But then again, it could have belonged to _any _waterbender; not just Katara in particular, but there weren't very many waterbenders around these parts.

Zuko managed to stop torturing himself with the parade of thoughts and then carefully placed the necklace down on the table again. He lifted his arms above his head and stretched, then walked over to his bed and collapsed.

'_I should have just searched for the Avatar and captured him rather than bringing that girl onto my ship'_ Zuko thought. Was she really having some sort of affect on him? He had barely even spoken to her or looked at her for that matter. She was attractive though, if not stubborn. This thought made Zuko smirk. She actually reminded him of himself when he was younger. Oh hell, she reminded him of himself even now.

Zuko rubbed the bridge of his nose and quietly looked up at the steel ceiling of his room. His eyes drifted shut for a moment before they shot back open after hearing a knock at the door. The young prince sighed and said, "Come in," calmly. The door opened with a loud, moaning squeak and Iroh stuck his head in.

"Prince Zuko, dinner is almost ready," he said. Zuko sat up slowly and rolled out of bed.

"That reminds me, I need to take the prisoner back to her cell now. I should have ordered her to be taken back hours ago," said Zuko as he walked past his uncle and started making his way to the deck of the ship.

"She has to be hungry. Why don't you allow her to eat dinner in the galley with us?" asked Iroh with a twinkle in his eye. Zuko whirled around, his eyes wide with shock.

"Uncle, for the last time, she's a PRISONER! We've been far too kind to her as it is. She's gotten more privileges than a prisoner could ever hope to get. And I don't care how hungry she is. She is NOT coming to eat with us! I'm taking her back to her cell. She's been out long enough. In fact, she should never have been out at all."

Iroh shook his head as he started after the Prince. Quickly reaching out a hand, he managed to grab his nephew by the shoulder to stop him before he made his exit through the hatch. "Zuko, the girl looks absolutely starved. It's been days since she has had a decent meal," he said, a little bit more sternly this time.

"So?"

Iroh sighed. "Now Prince Zuko, you really wouldn't let a young girl starve to death now would you?"

Zuko growled in frustration and spat out an aggravated, "Fine!" He jerked the door open and walked out onto the deck. He couldn't believe how late it had gotten; the sun had almost completely disappeared behind the horizon. The guard keeping watch over Katara turned to Prince Zuko and waited patiently for an order. The Prince glared at Katara for a moment, bit his bottom lip and walked gracefully over to her. He stopped a mere two feet in front of her and exhaled tiredly. "Would you like….to join me for dinner?" asked Zuko with a large amount of difficulty.

Katara could tell that Iroh put him up to it, but she merely smiled and replied, "Yes, thank you." She could see Zuko face turning red again, but she could not tell if it was from embarrassment or anger. This made her grin with amusement.

Zuko turned to the guard, who was still awaiting an order. "Escort her to the galley," he said. The guard bowed and strode over to Katara. He placed his hand on her shoulder and led her inside. She was thankful she was not being handled so roughly this time. Zuko waited before they were ahead of him before he too started making his way to the galley. He shot his uncle an angry glare and walked inside, Iroh following after him with a pleased look on his face, feeling very accomplished.

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Katara glanced around the room at the many decorative knick-knacks that sat on several shelves currently lining the walls of the galley. Her eyes wandered over several medium-sized paintings and the large banners with the Fire Nation insignia that hung on opposites ends of the room. Then they settled on the boiling pots which were filled with what smelled like soup. She then glanced down at her hands and shifted slightly on the satin cushion she was sitting on. She felt rather strange, sitting in the galley of a Fire Nation vessel, about to dine with two firebenders, one of which who had captured her.

She glanced at the food that already lay in front of them. All that was there was a loaf of bread, a bowl of rice, a kettle of tea, and a another bowl that contained what looked to be some sort of seasoning. She knew that this was not the main meal, but even as she glanced at what little food there already was, her stomach began growling, and loud enough for her captor to hear. He turned his gaze to her and raised his one eyebrow. Katara blushed and bit her bottom lip, mumbling a quiet apology. Iroh only chuckled.

As if on cue, two men approached the table with plates of steaming fish and bowls of soup. Katara's mouth instantly started to water. She watched hungrily as Zuko and Iroh lifted their knives and began cutting into their fish. Her stomach gave another painful growl as she looked down at her plate.

Zuko stopped cutting his fish and looked over at the silent prisoner. Why had she not started eating? "What are you waiting for?" he asked arrogantly. The girl looked up suddenly, a surprised look settling onto her face.

"Oh…I thought I had to wait until you said it was alright for me to eat," she replied sheepishly. Zuko smirked at the reply.

"Well, you have good instincts."

'_Well, that's certainly ironic'_ Katara thought, thinking of her brother. She picked up her knife and carefully started to cut into her fish, trying so desperately not to just lunge at the damn thing since she was so dreadfully hungry.

Zuko could tell just from studying the girl's focused, sapphire eyes that she was indeed starving. A slight pang of guilt tugged at his heart but he was quick to ignore it and he averted his gaze away from her and back to his own plate.

Iroh watched the careful glances that were passed between the two teens. He felt as if he would start twitching like a mad man if one of them did not speak to one another. But why would they? They weren't exactly two peas in a pod. But Katara seemed like the kind of girl that posed as any possible chance of helping Zuko gain a much deserved need of tranquility and happiness. He hated to see his nephew kill himself to accomplish so much in hopes of pleasing his father when he had already done so much to be proud of.

Katara reached out her hand to take the bowl of seasoning, but at the same time, so did Zuko. As their hands touched, both teens felt as if a bolt of lighting had struck them. They both pulled their hands back just as quickly as they had touched and muttered what sounded like a "Sorry" under their breaths. Iroh smiled into his cup of tea. Just seeing his nephew's cheeks turn a slight tinge of crimson was all he needed right now to satisfy him.

No words were shared between the young Prince and the female waterbender, nor did they bother to pass even the slightest glance at one another. They kept their eyes on their meals and spoke not a word.

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Sighing, Aang picked up an accessible twig and poked at the hungry fire that was quietly dying down, its glowing embers taking their leave with the cool breeze. He felt better now that he had a little food in his stomach, but even so, his restless mind would not grant him the pleasure of sleep. He looked at Sokka, who was currently sitting on a large stump about five or so feet away. The boy looked deep in thought. It actually worried Aang to see his friend with a such a solemn look on his face.

"They're leading us straight into a trap, you know?" said Sokka as he looked out over the calm sea, and up towards the two-tone sky. Aang rubbed the back of his neck tiredly and folded his arms over his knees.

"Yeah, that had crossed my mind the second I realized that Katara had been kidnapped. But I'm willing to surrender myself if it means Katara goes free without being harmed."

Sokka breathed a quivering sigh and shoved his face in his hands. "How could we let this happen? How could Katara have gone off by herself!"

"Sokka, it's no one's fault. So let's not try to force the blame on ourselves or Katara. Especially Katara." The airbender said calmly as he lay himself down into a pile of leaves. He glanced up at the stars, trying to spot the constellations. It seemed so quiet now, almost as if Aang's surroundings had silenced themselves and were trying so desperately to hear the thoughts that plagued his mind. But then the silence was broken as a soft whimper, followed by a sniffle, slipped into earshot. It was Sokka. He was….crying? "Sokka? Are you alright?" Aang asked gently as he sat up and settled his gaze on the teen who remained sitting on the stump nearby. His shoulders were shaking slightly.

"Fine," Sokka snapped. Aang had heard him crying, and he hated that. It didn't suit him well, what with always strutting around with a macho attitude. He had not cried since his father had gone off to war. He thought for sure he had forgotten how. "How do we know he won't hurt her? I'm telling you, Aang! He's just another ruthless firebender!"

Aang looked out towards the sea. Unknown to both Katara and Sokka, Aang had developed a small respect for the Prince. His determination and strength was something to be admired. And Aang had already gotten the impression that his reasons for wanting to capture him were indeed personal and not at all or not just for the gain of the Fire Nation. He hadn't figured this out until after the escape from the Fire Nation fortress about a week back. Aang had yet to tell Sokka and Katara about it, and wasn't sure _how _to tell them, or if they'd even understand. Well, Sokka was pretty easy to figure out: 'He's just doing it for his own gain! He wasn't doing it to help you!'

The question of their possible friendship still remained unanswered, and though Zuko's lashing out came as a disappointment to Aang, he continued to believe that they truly could have been friends. And even now as the war dragged on, he believed it could still be a possibility, if even just a bit far-fetched. Unseemly? Yes. Impossible? No. Aang was not determined to hate the Prince, despite what he had done and what he was doing now. He was slowly gaining an insight of what Zuko felt and believed, and he started to wonder vaguely if maybe Katara was getting an even better insight.

TBC…

**A/N:** Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! They have really inspired me to keep up with this story, no matter how much I may think it sucks, and I still do but oh well ; Whoever hits 100 will have the next chapter dedicated to them.

**A/N2:** Links to my music videos can now be found in my profile! And let me just say this. Please don't upload the videos to your YouTube account without my permission.


	8. Opening Up Ever So Slightly

_Chapter VIII_

**Opening Up Ever So Slightly**

The first rays of sunlight outstretched from the openings of the clouds in the east, as if the sun had simply been sleeping under the clouds and were now waking up from a deep slumber. Its warm light cast across the azure sea, making it sparkle and shine with a brilliant topaz tinge. Zhao settled his gaze on the sheer beauty of it for only a moment before he quickly averted his eyes from it to the twelve cold, steel vessels that faced him, the tips of the bows pointing towards the sky, making them look like a fleet of proud soldiers standing tall before their king.

Ten troops were assigned to each ship. Each walked proudly up the now lowered ramps of the ships in single files. Zhao placed his hands behind his back, biting his lip as his scorched arms screamed in protest of the movement, but yet he smiled proudly as his new mission began to come into play. The Fire Lord came to stand next to him and he quickly turned and bowed in respect. Ozai simply bowed his head respectfully in return, and then turned to the fleet. "It has come down to this," said Ozai, more to himself than Zhao, but the Admiral nodded his head anyway.

"This nation will be better off without him, My Lord, I assure you. This is the only option."

"I had hope for him," said Ozai quietly. "But he became a stranger to me a long time ago." He shut his eyes. "Kill him. My thoughts for this kingdom's future will not take wing until he is dead."

"Of course, My Lord," said Zhao in a sickening tone. A tall, thin man approached the Lord and Admiral and bowed respectfully to both. He turned to Zhao. "The fleet is prepared and ready to set sail, Sir," he said.

"Very good, Lieutenant." Zhao started to make his way for the central vessel. "This mission has begun."

Ozai watched his best soldier make his way for the ship, his mission now in pursuit. He felt his own expression turn icy cold as the ships prepared to set off. "Do not disappoint me, Zhao."

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Katara's eyes popped open suddenly. No nightmares had brought her to her sudden wake, but for some reason she just awoke with a sudden jerk, but it was something she was accustomed to doing, usually five or so minutes after she had fallen asleep, so this made her wonder if night still had the ship in its grasp, or if the sun had risen. She could not tell since it was still dark in her cell, but a small amount of light ventured through the tiny window of the cell door, indicating that it was indeed morning or possibly afternoon already. She sat up and stretched, and then rubbed her stiff back. She never thought she'd miss sleeping on hard earth. It was never so bad when she had her thick sleeping parka to cushion the ground. It was a lot better than the sorry excuse of a bed she was currently sleeping on.

She let her feet touch the cold, steel floor of the cell, and she let her eyes wander the entire perimeter of the room. She never thought she'd miss bright, vibrant colors so much either. She stood up and stretched a second time, this time standing on her tiptoes so to let her legs stretch as well. She started to pace the small room, trying to get the blood flowing again. She wanted to be outside so much; to feel the sun's warmth embrace her and warm her chilled skin. Her soft, depressed eyes settled on the dragon on the steel floor where she had set it. She knelt down and lifted it gingerly yet firmly as to not let it slip from her grasp and shatter into a hundred pieces.

Katara ran her fingertips over the back of the dragon and quietly exhaled as Iroh's past words invaded her mind: "_Zuko's been through a lot, and I think what he needs more than anything is someone to talk to."_

Well maybe so, but Katara had no idea how to approach the ill-tempered Prince. If she even so much as _looked _at him he would scowl and turn his gaze away from her. Was he always this hot-headed? What was he like when he was alone, with no one to talk to or insult? Did he still hold the same "short fuse" attitude? Was he always wearing some sort of mask that he let slip out of place when he was alone? Did he break down and cry when he was alone? That just proved it, Katara knew nothing about him, and the few things she did know about him left her no room to judge.

Katara usually never _was _quick to judge someone like her brother was, but even so, in the past she always viewed the Prince as what he showed himself to be -- a prick; a selfish prince who wanted to gain honor and glory by capturing the Avatar. But now that she let her thoughts swim more deeply in the pool of possibilities, it did not seem like that was the case. Well, he had said himself that he was after the Avatar for honor, not glory, but she knew now that there was more to the story than that, and she had to know every fact behind it in order to truly understand his place.

Iroh had faith in her that she could help Zuko open up to her, but unfortunately, she did not have faith in herself. She would never admit to anyone that she was afraid of Zuko, despite his gentleness with her, but Zhao had already proven to her that she favored being captured being Zuko's prisoner rather than _his. _Zuko had had chances in the past to use physical violence to get what he wanted. Like when she had stolen the scroll from the pirates and he had tied her to the tree. He had a golden opportunity to hurt her. He could have beaten every ounce of information out of her if he wanted to, but he didn't. He was calm and gentle with her, which surprised her greatly. Sure, he had threatened to harm her, but now after recapping the event, she felt that he would not have harmed her, despite his threat.

She sat down on the bed, placing the dragon carefully in her lap. Her thoughts were interrupted as the sound of keys jingling together brought her eyes to the door that now began to open. She sighed in relief as she saw that it was only Iroh. "Ah, you're awake. How long have you been up?"

"Only about five minutes."

"Well then, you nearly let the day get away with you. It's past noon."

"Wow, really? I had no idea it was that late."

"I'm quite sure you are tired of being locked in a cell day after day, and I'm very sure you are tired of being supervised and allowed no freedom. So I have asked that you not be guarded as you roam around the ship. There will be guards on the deck at all times, but they just will not be following you around every step you take. But that is only if you promise not to try and escape?"

"With all do respect, how in the _world _do you expect me to escape in the middle of the ocean? Where would I go?"

Iroh chuckled. "Well, I suppose you've got a point there," the man replied sheepishly.

Katara smiled half-heartedly. "And besides, I'm not a skilled bender, remember? Even if I tried with all my might, there's no way I'd be able to escape. And you said you wanted me to try and talk to Zuko, right?"

Iroh beamed at the girl, and she smiled in return. She placed the glass dragon down on the bed and stood up. "I just hope I don't die in the process," she said as she walked out of the cell with the now laughing firebender and made her way towards the deck. She placed a hand above her forehead as the light shined into her eyes, causing her to wince, but it felt good nonetheless to be in the sun again.

"You may explore the ship if you want. I wouldn't go below deck though. The rhinos are kept down there, and it's not the most pleasant smell to endure. But be careful. This ship may be small, but it can be like a maze if you don't know your way around it."

Katara bowed her head. "Thank you." She turned and brought herself over to the railing of the ship and then lightly placed her hand on the rail as she journey alongside it, passing a few glances down at ocean below. She kept her head lowered, for every time she passed a guard, his attention would become focused on her, as if he was afraid that she would make an attempt to escape, but they did not follow her, which she was relieved for.

She must have circled the ship at least three times before she became more interested with what was inside of the ship. She turned for the door and went inside, suddenly being enveloped by darkness. Or maybe it just seemed so since her eyes had been so accustomed to the light for a while. It took a while for her eyes to finally adjust the surrounding darkness. She made her way down a narrow hallway, which was illuminated by the firelight of the lantern-like lamps lining the walls. Steel doors lined the walls, all of them shut and contents unknown to the girl that passed them. Katara figured that whatever lay behind those doors were the crews' quarters.

She came to the end of the hall and saw that it broke off to the right, so she continued on, passing several more doors that stared back at her, spiking her curiosity further. She did not see anyone, so she figured every crew member on board was on the deck of the ship. This ship was less eerie than the abandoned war ship back home, for it was much alive with the glow and warmth of firelight and the roaring engine that gave the ship its life.

Katara ascended atop a small set of iron stairs that led to the second floor. She was greeted with yet another hallway, lined with more steel, closed doors. However, as she made her way through the hall, her ever growing curiosity started to argue with her conscience. Giving into her always surpassing curiosity, she made her way to one of the doors and opened it with ease. Her eyes were greeted with a decently furnished room. It was not exactly luxury, but it was nice enough to know that it was not a prison cell.

Her soft footsteps echoed off the steel walls as she walked slowly through the passage. She stopped and carefully opened another door, finding an identical room to the last one. The next room looked a little better furnished than the others and she wondered if perhaps this was Zuko's room, but as she came to the next room, she knew that _this _must have been the Prince's quarters. A large banner with the Fire Nation insignia hung on the back wall, while three beautifully designed drapes hung on the side walls: two on one wall, while the other hung by itself on the opposite side. Her eyes wandered over the two large broadswords on the wall, and then ventured over to the small table where four slightly melted candles sat, wicks curling from burning constantly.

Katara wondered where the Prince was at this very moment, but yet was thankful that he was not here, knowing that he probably would not be too fond of a "guest" in his room without his permission. With this in mind, Katara started to leave, but her eyes settled on a large chest that lay by Zuko's bed. The young waterbender tugged on her index finger as she thought whether or not she should open it to view what treasures may lie inside. She feared to do so, but her curiosity was just too strong to overpower, and so she made her way over to the chest and got down on her knees. There was no lock; just a couple of hatches that needed to be flipped and the chest would open with ease.

Katara's heart rate began to speed up as the anticipation of knowing what was inside the chest began to grow. She opened it carefully, savoring the moment, and her eyes ventured down into the bed of the chest, settling on the first thing inside, which looked to be an old journal. She picked it up, dust clinging to the tips of her fingers. It looked rather old, like it had not been touched in two or three years. She started to open it, but then shook her head. No, she would not pry _that _far into the Prince's privacy. So she sat the journal aside and peeked inside at the rest of the chest's contents.

She picked up what looked to be a thin, iron flame, gold painted, and reflected her curious expression back to her. She flipped it over to see an identical side. There were three prongs at the end of it, indicating that it was probably something that could be worn in someone's hair. She never saw Zuko wear it, but figured it was probably something a woman would wear.

Her eyes shifted from the flame to the next item in the chest, which looked like an ordinary, rolled up piece of parchment. Katara picked up the item from the bottom of the chest and quickly unrolled it, figuring perhaps it was a map of a Fire Nation city of some sort, but she saw with surprise that it was actually a portrait, the last thing she expected it to be. There were six people in the portrait: a tall, stern looking man, a beautiful woman with dark flowing hair that reached just past her shoulders, a young boy and girl that looked to be about five or six, another man who she knew right away was Iroh. His hair still had some color, and he looked a little thinner as well. Her eyes then curiously scanned over the young boy who stood in front of him. He looked to be about ten or eleven, but she couldn't be sure. She frowned, curious about the young boy's identity.

She focused her attention on the two younger children again. She had a gut feeling that the little boy was Zuko. She smiled softly. He certainly was cute.

"What are you doing in here?" she heard an angry voice call to her. "I did not give you permission to be in here!" the voice yelled. Oh boy, she was in for it now. Before she could do anything the portrait was snatched out of her hand. "What were you doing with this!" he asked angrily as he inspected the portrait, almost as if he was afraid she had damaged it in some way.

"I'm sorry, Zuko," said Katara as calmly as possible.

"As long as you are in _my _presence, you will address me as _Prince _Zuko," said the Prince as he placed the portrait carefully back into the chest.

"Well excuse me, Your _Highness_! Where were you at anyway?"

"Well if you _must_ know, I was up in the helm, but I don't think that's any of your business. Now get out! Or I'll have you locked in your cell for the rest of the day! The only reason I'm allowing your freedom is to please my uncle and keep him off my back."

"Yes, it's a shame your uncle is kind-hearted and cares for the well-being of others," replied Katara, her voice dulled with sarcasm.

Zuko did not respond, but instead stormed angrily over to the table where his meditating candles awaited him. He sat down in a huff and lit the candles with a flick of the wrist. Of course the tiny flames flared angrily, symbolizing his anger. Katara felt the waves of heat produced from the flames move past her face, drying her eyes within seconds.

Though she had grown nervous, she remained where she stood, as though she were glued to the spot and couldn't move no matter how hard she tried. This was probably her one chance to actually talk with the firebender. He was right _there _after all, and there was no one else around to interrupt them.

She reached back into the chest and picked up the portrait. She looked over at Zuko, and then back down at the Prince's possession with interest.

"This child, in the portrait…the little boy…it's you, isn't it?" Katara asked quietly. Zuko remained silent, surprising Katara for she had expected another outburst. He turned around in his seat slowly and looked straight at her, then at the painting.

"Yes," he said. "When I was five." He turned back around quickly, wanting to avoid the waterbender's penetrating, yet gentle gaze.

Katara sensed his discomfort, but continued with her questions.

"And the little girl?"

"My sister, Azula."

Katara's eyes wandered back to the young boy standing in front of Iroh. "What about the other young boy in the picture?"

"Natsu…my uncle's son," Zuko said surprisingly quietly.

"And the man and woman are your father and mother," Katara stated quietly to herself. She smiled suddenly as her eyes wandered over the angelic face of Zuko's mother. She was suddenly reminded of her own mother. "Your mother is beautiful."

"Yes, she was."

"'Was'? You mean she-"

"Died about a year after that portrait was painted," said Zuko, his back still facing Katara.

"Oh." Katara's face fell. Her eyes wandered over the Prince's back, wishing she could see directly through it to see the expression he carried. "What was she like?"

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Zuko turned to face the girl again with a furrowed brow. Why had he not again shouted at her to leave him be? Why did he not send her so much as a scowl? Why was _she _even curious about his family? He studied her eyes carefully for any possible answer. Hidden within the fright, he saw curiosity, and kindness, and what looked to be…sympathy? So she truly did want to talk to him like a human being. But he just wanted to be left alone. Why was is that no one could ever just go away?

Perhaps she _would _leave him alone if he answered her question. He let a sigh carry out his acceptance, and he opened his mouth to speak, but he was sure he'd be sore in the morning.

"My mother was a kind and gentle person, but I don't remember her that well. Every day I strain to hold on to what little memories I have left of her, but I remember that she never spoke of the war. I knew she hated it. Every time discussions of upcoming battles were brought up it was clear that she hated it just by looking at her facial expression. She was never like my father when it came to the war or anything pertaining to it. Of course my father never knew how my mother really felt about the war. If he had, then….well who knows what would have happened. It was for that reason why my mother kept her opinions to herself. My father didn't take kindly to those that didn't follow him."

There was a short pause, accompanied by unquestioning silence.

"My father was away from home a lot, but my mother was always around to take care of me when he was away, but then something happened. My father and his armies had raided the Northern Water Tribe and had returned home for just a short period before setting out for a small city in the Earth Kingdom. My mother told me and my uncle that she was leaving for the North Pole to tend to the people who had hopefully survived. Never had she taken such a huge risk. She took medicine, food, everything she could think of and left, telling my uncle to tell anyone who questioned her absence that she was visiting a sick relative. She told me she'd be back before I knew it. I was only a child, so I believed her." Zuko's eyes fluttered open for a moment to gaze longingly at the dancing flames before him; they were no longer flaring. He went on.

"It had been three weeks. Both me and my uncle were worried that something might have happened to her, but he reassured me that she would be fine and that she was coming home. And she did…but she certainly wasn't fine. She came home ill." Zuko exhaled, allowing the flames to falter before he inhaled again, watching as they rose in rhythm to his breathing. He went on: "At first it was just a cough; nothing too serious…but it always starts off as just a cough. Three days had passed, and that's when she started running a fever, and her cough had grown worse. Then when a week rolled around…she had grown so weak that she could no longer stand up, so she had to remain in bed. I never left her bedside. Servants kept trying to make me leave because they were afraid I would get sick as well but I didn't care. I was not about to leave her side. She died a couple of days afterwards."

"I'm really sorry," said Katara quietly. Zuko finally turned around to face her. His expression had changed, but it was not at all unfamiliar to Katara.

"Ok, I answered your question," he said scornfully. "Now leave." The mask had slipped back into place. Katara felt the wave of his icy tone harden over her little bit of hope, but she was not about to leave just yet. She finally had a grasp of his inner being, and she was not about to let it go.

"I know what it feels like," she said. "My mother died when I was young as well…and I'll never forget it."

Zuko had been determined to stand up and shove the girl out of his room as her voice filled the room, showing that she had no intentions of leaving, but as the subject of her own mother came up, he forgot for that split second that he wanted her out. "What happened?" he asked, uncertain as to why he was curious, or why his anger had subsided so suddenly.

"…Fire Nation raid," Katara replied quietly, trying as desperately as she could to push the still very lively memories out of her mind.

"Oh," was all the firebender said. He quickly ignored the pang of guilt that he felt, reminding himself that it was not his fault and that he had no reason to feel guilty.

"Umm…" he heard Katara begin, "whose is this?" Zuko turned around again and saw Katara holding up the little golden flame.

"It belonged to my mother. She wore it every day. She gave it to me right before she died." Then it hit him. It hit him with the force of a flying comet. The necklace, it had belonged to Katara's mother. That hair piece was the only thing Zuko had left of his mother, and he'd hate it if he ever lost it. He placed his hand on his pocket where the necklace was now kept. He certainly had some thinking to do.

Zuko now felt a presence beside him. He turned his head slightly to the left to look up at the waterbender, who seemed to be studying him carefully and thoughtfully. He remained silent, watching her with suspicion as she reached out a hand and traced her fingers around the outer edges of his scar. He flinched slightly, his eyes boring directly into hers. "What happened?" she asked. Zuko knocked her hand away and stood up angrily. No, she had no right to touch him!

"Don't ever touch me, Peasant!" he yelled in alarm. Katara recoiled instantly, taking a few steps back. Her eyes remained leveled with his, but they did not hide the shock from his sudden outburst.

Zuko took a step towards the girl, who took another step back as she acknowledged his undying fury. His mouth opened and closed as he searched himself or anything to shout at the girl. She was forcing him to relive his pain, his disgrace, his failure! Every day he spent at sea always played as a living reminder of where he stood. And now this girl was trying to persuade him into reliving every taunting memory of his exile. And though he had not yet spoken a word of his entire banishment to her, the aftermath of the fateful Agni Kai was slowly forming together in his mind, piece by piece like a puzzle.

Harsh words never spilled from his lips, which had been his first intention. Instead, Zuko took two slow steps backwards, eyes still locked with the waterbender's. He saw her lips slowly part and that's when he turned to flee, not wanting to hear her voice any longer.

"Prince Zuko-"

"Just stay away from me!" came Zuko's delayed response.

Katara could only watch with her mouth agape as the Prince fled from the room before she could mutter any sort of response.

-----------------------------

"Colonel Shinu?" called a stout sergeant as he briskly made his way up into the tower. "The Admiral approaches."

"Right on time," said the Colonel coolly. He made his way down the tower steps and towards the harbor, where Admiral's Zhao's fleet was currently docking. He stopped and stood with his head held high as the bow of the center vessel was lowered to the ground. Zhao descended from the ship and approached the Colonel with a graceful stride. He looked down at the shorter man and nodded.

"Colonel Shinu," Zhao greeted.

"Admiral Zhao," said the Colonel, returning the nod.

"Are the YuuYan archers ready to board?"

"Yes, sir," Shinu replied as he waved a hand slightly in the air, beckoning the Admiral to follow him. Zhao took the hint and followed after the shorter man. "They have been rested and prepared for this mission. But if you don't mind me asking, Admiral...what is this about?" Shinu asked calmly, turning his head slightly behind him to meet Zhao's stern gaze.

"The Prince's fate has been decided. The Fire Lord now sees that the only way to keep the traitor from returning is to kill him. And that's exactly what I plan on doing," said Zhao proudly. Shinu turned his attention to the front again.

"I see," he said quietly. "Well then, if your mission is to kill the Prince, then why in the world do you suddenly need a fleet of ships? Or better yet, why a group of highly skilled archers?"

"Simple. My mission is to not only eliminate the Prince, but to capture the Avatar. And I have learned from past experiences to never underestimate those that you find as not being a threat."

"So…you feel threatened by a child?" asked Shinu. The vein in Zhao's forehead began to pulse, but he remained calm.

"I underestimated Prince Zuko once…and paid the price for it. However, his death will come easily. His men cannot protect him. It is Fire Lord Ozai's orders to put him to death, so they will have no objections."

"But his uncle will."

"True, but if I have to fight the old man in order to get to the Prince then so be it."

"The Dragon of the West is not one to challenge. He may be getting up there in his age, but much fire still burns in his heart, and it is that which gives him his strength," said the Colonel.

"Perhaps, but if more than one man is needed to break a dragon then it shall be. As for the Avatar…he may only be a child, but he travels on a flying bison, high above the deep oceans and it could very well take the power of several war ships to bring it down. And if it be that we are to capture him on land, then the archers will have that advantage. And plus, if the Blue Spirit makes his appearance again, then they are perfect for taking him down as well."

They were approaching the western gate of the fortress. As they made their way inside, Zhao's eyes focused on the twelve archers who stood side by side one another, their faces expressing no emotion. Zhao paced up and down the line of archers, expecting them, and then smiled with satisfactory. "Perfect," he said.

TBC…

This chapter is dedicated to **jerseygrl246. **Congratulations, hon! You hit it. Yes, every 100 reviews I will have a chapter dedication. So whoever hits 200 (if I make it that far) will have the following chapter dedicated to them.

**A/N:** I appreciate all the positive feedback I got after my little hissy fit I threw. I had originally had a big ass rant typed up and trust me, it was a total wankfest. I'm glad I redid it. At the time I typed it, I was really angry at how many people kept saying the "Zuko captures Katara for bait" plot is oh so horrible and cliché. But one person had reviewed me and said that I had started this story a long time ago and that's true. About four months to be exact and only three or so "Katara for bait" stories were out at the time, and about 8,000 were posted after mine, so I feel a little bit better. But that does not mean it still doesn't sting when people bitch about the plot.

**A/N2:** Ok, **PLEASE READ THIS!** The next chapter is entirely in flashback mode, but it will not be italicized so please do not get confused. I'm not going to tell you what the flashback is going to be about. You'll just have to find out for yourself. And second, please don't hate me for giving Iroh a son. It's just this idea I've had for a long time and I couldn't resist.

I can see the reviews now "WTFBBQ!1!1? THEY WERE GETTING CLOSE AND U RUINED IT BY MAKING ZUKO ACT LIKE SUCH A BIOTCH!1!11 I HATE U!1!1one!1!1"

:-D


	9. The Exile

_Chapter IX_

**The Exile**

Silence.

Silence was what the young prince was greeted with when he had awoken. He opened one eye and let it wander around the room, seeing that no one was with him. He noticed that he could not feel the left side of his face, nor could he see out of his left eye either. He lifted a hand and gingerly placed it against his face, feeling what he figured were bandages. What had happened? Then it came flying back in one split second.

Images danced in his mind: the stadium, the eyes of the crowd watching him, his father, him down on his hands and knees, a high-pitched scream, then nothing. It was the last thing he remembered before darkness had taken him in its grasp. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up, but suddenly became woozy and fell back down. He figured he had been given some sort of medicine or sedative to help him sleep and it had not yet worn off. He stood up again, this time more carefully, and walked over to his window to pull back the curtains. The night sky greeted him, while the stars winked at him, and the full moon cast its light down onto the young Zuko's now bandaged face. He figured it must have been a few hours since the Agni Kai had occurred. What was to happen now?

"Prince Zuko? What are you doing out of bed?" came a voice Zuko was relieved to hear. He turned around to look into the eyes of his worried uncle Iroh. The man looked absolutely exhausted from worry, but he smiled none-the-less. "Prince Zuko please, you shouldn't be up. I'm sure that medicine is bringing a heavy toll on you right now."

"I'm fine, Uncle," the boy said quietly. "Why can't I feel my face?"

"They gave you some medicine that would numb the pain for a while. It should last for about twenty-four hours at the most." Iroh sat down slowly on the edge of Zuko's bed, keeping his concerned eyes on his nephew, afraid he might fall flat on his face at any given moment.

"I want to see."

"Now Prince Zuko, we need to keep the bandages on."

"I want to see," the Prince repeated, a little more firmly this time. Iroh sighed, and very softly replied, "Very well." He beckoned Zuko over to the elongated mirror that was nailed to his bedroom wall and helped him remove the bandages slowly, and carefully.

Zuko had been expecting what he saw, but he still could not hold back a horrified gasp. Iroh had looked away the second he pulled the bandages away from his nephew's face, knowing that he would not be able to bear the boy's horror-struck expression.

Zuko stepped closer to the mirror, reaching up a trembling hand to gently touch the seared, swollen skin. If it weren't for the medicine, Zuko most likely would have screamed in pain at such a simple touch. Small blisters dotted the seared, reddened skin. Some had already busted, and little trails of water trickled down his face. His hair had also been singed terribly; the horrible smell of it still lingered. Zuko looked nervously toward his uncle, whose attention was focused on the back wall.

"You're ashamed of me, aren't you?" he asked quietly. Iroh's head whipped around to face him, shock clearly evident on his face.

"No, Zuko, of course not!"

Zuko did not respond, only returned to staring at his now different reflection. After a few moments he finally whispered, "Father obviously is. I only had the nation's best interest at heart," he whispered desperately. His voice was beginning to crack. "Why can't they see that?" Zuko turned away from the mirror and walked over to sit on his bed, lowering his head in despair. He just could not look his uncle in the eye. He felt the bed sink beside him and an arm wrap around his shoulder. Zuko placed his head against his uncle's shoulder, trying so desperately to pretend that he was just comforting him after a horrible nightmare like he had so many times in the past. But this nightmare was very much real. Of course the Prince was still in denial of that.

"I am not, by any means, ashamed of you. I'm certain your mother would have been proud of you. She always told you to stand up for what you believe in."

"Then why has Father done this to me?" Zuko said in a hushed tone, his voice beginning to quiver as his spoke. Iroh ran his hand up and down his arm soothingly.

"I don't know, Zuko. He just…he just doesn't understand."

"I should have listened to you."

"Now Prince Zuko, I know you did not deliberately ignore my words. You just spoke your feelings. You did not know what sorts of discussions and plans were spoken of in that room. I've hardly spoken out in that room myself. I don't agree with half the things they say. Though my opinions are welcome, I speak not. They wouldn't listen to an old, retired general anyway."

"Then come out of retirement."

Iroh's laughter filled the room. "If only it were that easy, but I am too old, Zuko."

"No, you're not."

Iroh smiled, but did not reply to the comment. He shifted slightly and began rewrapping the bandages around the troubled prince's face. "Now lie down. You need to sleep. Go on, lie down," he said softly and gently pushed Zuko down onto the bed. The boy's head sank slowly into the pillow, his one good eye fluttering shut. "Things will get better," whispered Iroh. He leaned forward and kissed his head softly.

He did not leave his nephew's side.

------------------------------

"What am I to do about this?" Ozai said quietly to himself as he paced the throne room angrily. He stopped suddenly and stared directly at Zhao who stood before him just a few feet away. "He has to be punished. I did not raise that boy to show such weakness! I won't have it!" He rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Execution? Those who commit high treason are usually sentenced to be burned at the stake," said Zhao.

"I am aware of that, Captain!" Ozai yelled in annoyance. He thought for a moment. Though what Zhao spoke of was true, Zuko still had not done anything with enough severity to earn such a punishment. He shuddered at the thought of witnessing his son being consumed by his own element right before his eyes. He shook his head slowly. "Would any sort of punishment do any good for him? If he's weak now, then he's always been weak, and he most likely will remain weak."

"Exile perhaps?"

Ozai glanced at Zhao for a brief moment before shifting his gaze elsewhere to ponder quietly. He nodded his head slowly in agreement. "Yes. I suppose it is the only solution. What choice do I have?" Ozai once again went into deep thought. "I'll send him on a quest to retrieve the Avatar."

"Sir?" questioned Zhao.

"I'd like to think of it as an eternal lesson," the Fire Lord said coldly. "The Avatar is dead, no doubt. Zuko would most likely take his own life out of madness within a few years of his pursuit. By that time Azula will be old enough to marry and she may then take the throne." Ozai was oblivious to the devious smile spreading on the Captain's face. "She's far more suited to rule. She always has been."

"And if he does not choose suicide?"

"_Then _and only _then_, shall death come by force."

------------------------------

Iroh still had not left his nephew's side. He sat there, listening to the boy's quiet, steady breathing as he stroked the boy's twitching hand. He was obviously dreaming.

Fourteen. He was only fourteen and now he would bear a scar upon his face for the rest of his life, a mark of his "weakness." He shook his head. Ozai had always treated him like some new recruit rather than his own son. He always expected perfection out of him, and now here he lay before him, scar upon his face and the entire Fire Nation against him all because of a simple opinion.

Iroh jumped slightly when a knock at the door brought him out of his deep thoughts and back into reality. "Come in," he said. The large, oak door opened and one of the palace servants stepped into the room and bowed. "General Iroh?"

'_Retired general, you little-'_ "Yes?"

"Lord Ozai wishes to see his son."

Iroh narrowed his eyes, knowing the worst of the ordeal was beginning to rear its ugly head. "He is resting," he replied sternly.

"Fire Lord's orders," the servant replied and left quickly before Iroh could even utter another reply. He exhaled deeply and turned to his nephew, who was still sleeping soundly. Well, as soundly as anyone who just suffered a terrible ordeal could sleep.

"Prince Zuko?" Iroh began to shake him gently. "Wake up now." Zuko whimpered a few times before he finally woke, quickly shutting his good eye as unwelcoming light that bathed his large room greeted him harshly. He looked up at his uncle and immediately knew something was wrong.

"What is it, Uncle?"

"Your father…wants to see you," said the elder man uneasily. He took note of the fear flickering in Zuko's eye and placed his hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "It'll be alright. I'll be there with you." Iroh smiled weakly, trying to convince himself that everything was going to be alright, but even he could not fool himself with false hope. "Come now."

Iroh helped his nephew dress quickly before he escorted him to the throne room where Ozai waited with his unknown punishment.

------------------------------

Zuko felt his heart creeping into his throat as they drew closer to the large double-doors. They stopped just outside of the throne room, and Zuko looked up at his uncle as he placed his trembling hand on the door handle. Iroh once again smiled at him. "It'll be alright," he said softly, but he knew it was going to be anything but alright. In fact, to him it seemed like this was the beginning of the end.

They both pushed the doors open and stepped into the large throne room that was once so welcoming. Zuko could have sworn he set foot into the North Pole the second he stepped into that room. It was silent; cold, and the only sound that could be heard was Zuko's heavy breathing and cautious footsteps echoing off the walls that seemed to be closing in on him. He looked up and saw Zhao standing at the bottom of the steps which led to Ozai's throne. Zuko immediately lifted his head high and expressed no emotion. He had always hated Zhao with a passion, but he feared that even now he could not show the smug Captain that he was unafraid, for Zhao had seen the display of his "weakness" just a few hours ago.

Zuko stopped just a few feet in front of the marble stairs that led to the Fire Lord's throne. He took a deep breath and got down on one knee, bowing his head to his father before he quickly looked up, his pleading expression very much familiar to his father, but this did not grant him his pity in the least. In fact, it irked the Fire Lord quite profoundly.

"Father, please," Zuko began, "I did not-"

"Silence!" Ozai shrieked harshly, bringing more pain to the Prince's face. "You will not speak. I think you've spoken enough today," he said with so much venom in his tone that Zuko was surprised it did not kill him. Ozai ascended from his chair and peered down at Zuko with a high amount disappointment. "Weakness, shameful weakness is what you have displayed tonight and I cannot even bring myself to believe that you had the nation's 'best interest at heart' as you said."

"But Father-"

"I said SILENCE!"

Ozai's loud shrill echoed off the walls several times before silence fell over the room again; a deathly cold silence that sent icy chills down Zuko's spine. Iroh could only stand and watch, biting his tongue and anger rising as he fought to keep a straight face.

"Stand up!"

Zuko lowered his head, dreading whatever new torture was about to bestow upon him, and slowly pushed himself upward, lifting his head again to bring his uncovered, fearful eye in contact with his father's pitiless face. He watched his father begin to descend from the stairs, his footsteps so slow and loud that it caused Zuko's heart rate to speed up after each taunting step. He could have sworn he could even hear his heartbeat echoing throughout the room.

Ozai made it to the bottom of the steps and stood a mere three feet away from his son. Zuko did not show his fear, but Ozai did not have to see it for he could smell it. He could always smell fear, and he practically fed off of it.

"Tell me," the Fire Lord started softly, "what gave you the _gall_ to speak out in that room?"

Zuko held his head high, holding on to what little bit of courage he had left. "I had to. I don't care if my words are not wanted! The only things shameful in this entire predicament are these war strategies! How can you sit there and stay silent as your own people are said to be sacrificed? Your people, Father. The people who fight for you and protect this nation! Do you not even care? You should be ashamed not of me, but of this war."

Zuko had acknowledged the severity of what he said just then, but showed no signs of regret, for he meant what he had said, despite the fear he was now facing.

Ozai's expression had grown even more dark and hard after each of Zuko's words passed through his ears. He exhaled loudly through his nose a few times before suddenly drawing back his hand and backhanding Zuko across the unscarred side of his face.

Iroh could no longer hold himself to silence.

"That is enough, Brother!" he yelled as he took a few steps forward.

"You stay out of this, Iroh!" Ozai yelled as he swiftly pointed a finger at his older brother. "You knew I did not want him attending the war councils until he was seventeen! I should be blaming you for this as well."

"Well then perhaps you should have burned my face then, hadn't you? He is your son, Ozai!"

"And he has to learn what passes for treason in this nation. This cannot go unpunished." Ozai turned to face his son, who had his hand placed against his now red cheek where his father had struck him. "Exile."

Zuko's eyes widened. "What?"

"Exile! You are banished for your acts of dishonor and disrespect. Your honor may be restored when you bring me the Avatar, alive."

_Now _Zuko regretted what he said.

"No, Father, please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I dishonored you! I swear I meant no disrespect! I will not speak out again. Please, I'll do anything!" Zuko could already feel tears prickling at the rims of his eyes.

"The punishment stands. You will leave at dawn. Now get out," said Ozai coldly as he pointed to the doors. Zuko turned to his uncle for help, but the man was clearly lost for words. What could he say that could possibly change his brother's mind anyway?

Zuko looked down at the floor, then exchanged glances between his uncle and father before he took off in a dead run out of the throne room. Iroh stared at his brother scornfully. "At least wait until he's had time to recover, Brother."

"I want him out of here _tomorrow. _No later."

Iroh shut his eyes in defeat. "Very well. Then I am placing myself in exile with him."

Ozai cocked an eyebrow.

"I take responsibility for this, so I feel it's only right that I accompany him. He will need someone to train him, to love him, protect him, comfort him whenever the darkest of nightmares plague his mind, something you were never around to do like I was," spat Iroh as he took a step towards his brother.

"I was around to train him," Ozai spat back as he, too, took a step forward.

Iroh stopped, now only inches away from the man before him; the man who he had always loved and looked out for as a child. "But when were you ever around to be a real father to him? A father is there for his son when he needs him the most, to love and comfort him. Not look down on him or judge him by the little mistakes he may make. The only one that is a disgrace right now is you."

With that said Iroh turned and walked out of the room, leaving his brother to chew on his words.

------------------------------

When Iroh made it back to Zuko's bedroom the first thing he heard was loud yelling and things being thrown across the room. He opened the door slowly to stick his head into the room but quickly retrieved from the room and shut the door as a boot came hurtling towards him. He tried entering the room again and thankfully did not get pummeled by flying objects.

Zuko's dresser had been knocked over, clothes were scattered everywhere, and broken glass of a once antique figurine littered the floor right below Zuko's now horribly cracked mirror. Flames began igniting from his fists, and at this point Iroh quickly ran forward and grabbed him, yelling at him to keep himself under control, but Zuko fought him.

"It's not fair!" he shrieked, trying to release himself from his uncle's tight grasp.

"Zuko, stop! That's enough! STOP IT!"

"IT'S NOT FAIR!"

One of the lanterns lighting the room exploded with a loud pop, and Iroh acted fast to put out the flames before they set fire to anything flammable in the room. He then quickly grabbed hold of Zuko again to try and keep him under control before the whole room went up in flames. He secured his arms around him and pulled him against him in a comforting embrace. Zuko's knees finally gave way beneath him and he went to the floor, his uncle going down with him as well.

"Why?" said Zuko quietly against his uncle's chest. "It's not fair," he repeated, only this time it came out as a barely audible squeak.

"Shh," soothed Iroh as he rubbed comforting circles on his nephew's back. "Remember what I told you, Zuko. We must not question why these things happen, we must embrace and accept them. Enduring what we fear makes us stronger, therefore we may take on even bigger challenges in our lives."

Zuko pulled away from his uncle's embrace.

"What are you saying, Uncle? Are you saying that this is for the best? That this is for my own good?"

"Zuko…" Iroh sighed. Why was it he always knew exactly what point he wanted to make, but could never put it into proper words? "That is not what I'm saying. You think I want this to happen? I just…I want you to know that there comes a time in our lives when we seem to find ourselves lost, confused, or even unwanted. They say everything happens for a reason."

"What possible reason could there be for this!" Zuko shouted.

Iroh stared down at his nephew thoughtfully but did not have an answer to his question, which shocked Zuko to no end. His uncle had an answer for everything. Whether it made sense or not, he always knew what to say.

"Perhaps it's best we do not ask questions. It's not the end of the world, Prince Zuko. Life goes on. In order to enjoy the good in life, we must face the bad."

"I don't see how any good could ever come out of this," said Zuko as he picked himself up off the floor and walked out onto the balcony. Iroh followed after him but did not speak for some time. They both gazed out over the large, quiet courtyard before looking up at the night sky. "Did you ever find yourself in a similar situations? I mean…did you ever feel that you were not wanted, or that you were weak?"

Iroh was surprised by this question. He placed his arms on the stone railing of the balcony and focused his attention on the bright, full moon above. "Yes, I have," he replied quietly. "Plenty of times. My father was not always easy to please, much like my brother, which just proves my point that Ozai takes after our father. When it was said that your father was to become Fire Lord, and I wasn't, I was very upset, because I knew it was for that very reason - that I was weak, or too soft. I grew angry with myself. I felt like a failure. I found myself going off to war more often just to escape my brother's presence, and also to resolve my anger by doing everything my father thought I was too weak to do. I felt like I had to prove a point."

"But you're not weak."

Iroh sighed. He looked over at his nephew, whose attention was focused on the many stars lining the black sky. He turned his own attention back to the moon.

"Why did you retire, Uncle?" Zuko asked suddenly.

"Zuko, I've told you. I'm getting old."

Zuko's only response was a frustrated sigh. He knew there was more that his uncle just was not telling him.

"Come on," said Iroh as he placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "No more talk. Let's go back inside. You really do need to rest."

------------------------------

Golden, morning light began to creep over the tops of the quiet hills and mountains of the Fire Nation slowly. It was so ironic that on this one day, the sunrise seemed to be the most beautiful. Zuko had always watched the sunrise, morning after morning, but on this morning, nothing seemed to matter to him. Things had changed…dramatically. Despite the sun's beautiful, warm light, today was a cold, dark day for the soon-to-be banished Prince.

The warm light poured into the room, through the slightly translucent curtains and onto Zuko's tired features. Being deprived of sleep the previous night left the Prince in a state of exhaustion.

Zuko had to fight the exhaustion in order to hold still as his long hair was shaved away slowly, a Fire Nation custom preformed in acts of treason. A nearly-shaven head represented disgrace in the Fire Nation. Zuko absolutely hated it. As if his horrible burn was not enough! And that burn would heal into a horrible scar, which he would wear upon his face for the rest of his life. He watched with sadness and anger as his silky locks of hair fluttered to the ground, pooling at his feet.

Once his head was shaven, he strolled over to his now cracked mirror to take in his new appearance. His now nearly hairless head made his inflamed burn stand out even more. He grabbed his previously discarded hair band and retied what little of his hair he had left. Glancing at his reflection again sadly he gave a spiritless sigh. Why was this happening to him? Hadn't he done the right thing?

Turning away from the mirror angrily, he walked swiftly over to his dresser which had previously been knocked over on its side as a result of his earlier rage. He opened the bottom drawer, reached both his hands inside, and grasped his journal, lifting it up and bringing it over to the table. He opened it slowly with a shaky hand and turned to a blank page. His fingers ghosted over the untouched parchment before his hand migrated to the quill that sat in the bottle of ink. He held the quill above the page for a moment before he finally brought the tip of it to the parchment and began to write:

_Agni has cast me into the shadows. I am no longer wanted in this nation for my acts of disrespect. Father says I may return when I bring him the Avatar. I will show him I am not weak. I will bring him the Avatar, no matter what it takes. I will prove to them all that I am worthy of ruling this nation._

Zuko dipped the quill into the ink again before he continued:

_I will not stop until I reclaim what's rightfully mine._

He had not noticed there were tears flowing from his eyes until one of them had slipped from his chin and splattered onto the page, slightly smudging the ink on the word, "honor". He wiped his eyes angrily. No, no more crying. It was merely another form of weakness. This was not a time for shameful tears.

Zuko closed the journal and picked it up to return it to the bottom drawer of the dresser but stopped suddenly. He glanced down at its cover, running a hand over the Fire Nation insignia that was engraved into the leather. He decided to bring it along with him on his journey. It held precious memories of his life, the good and the bad. Looking back on these moments may bring him comfort, but little did he know that he would never open that journal for years, fearing that sorrow would only come to him from the memories, rather than comfort.

After setting the journal down on his bed next to his chest, he slipped his hand under his pillow and pulled out a folded, silk handkerchief. He unfolded it, revealing the decorative hair piece that his mother had worn in her beautiful hair during her days of ruling. "I hope you're not ashamed of me, Mother," he whispered. "Guide me through this storm," he said, then kissed the flame and placed it back into the handkerchief and refolded it. He carefully set his precious treasure into his chest where he had placed his training vest and a set of robes to take with him.

His gaze eventually settled on the small portrait that hung just above his bed. He reached up and removed it from the wall. He then carefully removed the portrait from its frame, rolled it up and placed it into the chest carefully.

There came a knock at the door. Zuko remained silent for a short moment before he parted his lips to say, "Come in," in a dry tone. The door opened with a loud creak and Iroh stuck his head in.

"I wanted to knock first. Didn't want to risk getting hit in the head with something," the man said with a chuckle. Zuko knew he was only trying to cheer him up. He watched his uncle's expression change dramatically as his eyes settled on his now almost completely bald head. Zuko touched the side of his head gingerly.

Iroh blinked, and then cleared his throat. "So…is this what you're taking with you?" he asked as his eyes skimmed over the still opened chest on the bed.

"Yeah. Mostly just personal belongings." Zuko looked up at his uncle. "You don't have to come with me, you know. I brought this upon myself."

"I'm coming with you, Zuko. I take responsibility for this, too. I don't want you to be alone."

Zuko managed a half-hearted smile.

"Thank you, Uncle."

"Your ship has been prepared. And umm…your father wants to see you again. It seems he has already gathered a crew for you. Do you want me to come with you again?"

"No, Uncle," said Zuko, placing his journal inside the chest with the rest of its contents. "Would you take this to the ship for me?" he asked as he closed the chest and lifted it by its handles.

"Of course." Iroh took the chest from his nephew and made his way to the door. He stopped and turned back to face the Prince for a moment before he disappeared out of the room completely.

------------------------------

Zuko stepped into the throne room and approached his father, this time with a proud, graceful stride. He noticed Zhao was not there, but he also noticed a small group of soldiers standing to the left side of the room. His eyes wandered over them before they came to settle on his father, who had already risen from his chair.

Ozai wrinkled his nose in disgust at his son's now almost completely bald head before saying, "These men have been assigned to join you on your pursuit," said the Fire Lord. Zuko turned to face them. The majority of them wore helmets with the white, skeleton-like mask, hiding their faces from view, but one man in particular he noticed kept staring at him, with a look of pity it seemed. He appeared to be a middle-aged man. He looked almost worn-out, like he had seen many gruesome battles in his day. Zuko later came to learn that his name was Jee.

After one last glance at the soldiers Zuko nodded his head to his father. Ozai dismissed the soldiers so they may board the ship, and Zuko looked on with pity. They had to be dragged on this seemingly pointless mission all because of him.

The Prince passed one last glance at this father. "Goodbye…Father," he said with a great deal of difficulty. He waited patiently for a reply, but when he did not get one he turned to leave. As he left the throne room and began making his way down the long hallway, he glanced at the many portraits of past Fire Lords that hung on both sides of hall. They all looked down at him with their stern expressions. None of them were smiling. Zuko almost felt as if they were looking at him with a mock glare; like they were trying to tell him that he would never be up on that wall with the rest of them. Zuko shut his eyes and began sprinting, forcing himself not to open his eyes until he reached the end of the hall.

Upon reaching the common room, he opened his eyes and straightened himself up. He took a minute to catch his breath before he began to slowly make his way to the palace doors. A lesser built figure about his height was approaching him from the opposite direction.

"Looks like this is goodbye, Brother," said Azula in a much too happy tone. Zuko narrowed his eyes at his sister.

"I'm coming back, Azula. You can count on it."

"I'm also counting the days until I'm sitting up on that throne and ruling this nation," spat the girl. "Come on, Zuko. You're not fit to rule. You and I both know Father had only chose you to rule because you are his son. He thought he could make you into something you could never be. He knows I'm much more fit to take over the throne. He said himself I was born lucky, remember?"

Zuko did not deny this. It was true, as painful as it was for him to believe it. When he had started his training, his father had become far too harsh for his liking, and pushed him, saying how he had been lucky to be born. For a time Zuko had convinced himself that his father had just said those things to push him and make him train harder, but after the events of the previous night, Zuko began denying these reasons. "So this is what you think of me? A weakling? A nothing? Our relationship was different before, Zula. I always looked out for you, and protected you! What happened to us?" Zuko whispered.

Azula's smirk had fallen, and was replaced with an icy glare. "Times change, Zuko. Nothing remains the same forever. Summer turns to Fall…Fall turns to Winter," she said softly. "But unlike the seasons, our relationship will never return. Leave," she said coldly. "You aren't wanted here."

"I'll capture the Avatar," spat Zuko. Azula let out a loud cackle in response to the ridiculous-sounding comment.

"Weak _and _stupid," she said as she shook her head. "The Avatar disappeared one hundred years ago! And even if he was still alive, there'd be no way you'd be able to find him, let alone capture him. He's had years to master the four elements. You'd be no match for him. Accept your fate, Zuko, and save yourself the humiliation of pursuing a pointless mission. You aren't wanted here!" Azula repeated with malice, and then brushed past her brother, leaving him to stare directly at the spot where his sister had just been standing.

"Fine, Azula. Whatever you say," Zuko whispered with sadness etched in his voice, and then started on his way again.

Two stern-faced guards were standing at the palace doors, spears in hand. Zuko saw that they did not bow to him when he approached the doors. Was he really that disgraceful?

The guards turned and both opened the palace doors. The bright light of the outside world greeted him, as did the many angry eyes of Fire Nation villagers. They had gathered for this? Had the word spread that quickly? Well, Zuko saw that the majority of the crowd were actually those that had attended the Agni Kai.

"Traitor!"

"Conspirator!"

So many names were shouted at him (mostly 'traitor'), making him wish he could simply shrink back into the comfort of the shadows where no one could see or ridicule him. Did these people even know why he spoke out? Did they even know that their own people were going to be used as bait in an Earth Kingdom attack?

Zuko suddenly felt the painful blow of a stone hitting the side of his face.

They obviously did not care.

Zuko felt like the scapegoat in this entire ordeal, forced to endure the punishment for the mistakes of others; a sacrifice.

He saw his ship just up ahead, ramp already lowered, and awaiting his ascent. So this was really happening. This entire time Zuko had been praying that it was still all just a horrible nightmare and that he would wake up at any time, but he finally decided to face the truth. He was banished, simple as that, but he was still grateful that his uncle had promised to accompany him, but that still did not completely numb the pain all together.

Zuko slowly and silently made his way up the long ramp that led into the depths of the ship. He would be glad to be out of the gaze of his people. He could feel their eyes boring into his back and into his soul, extracting every ounce of courage and pride he had.

Once he made it into the ship he stopped and turned to look out at his people as the ramp slowly began to lift, and then catching a glimpse of his father standing out on one of the balconies of the palace. Their eyes locked for a long moment before their gaze was cut off as the ramp reconnected with the ship. Zuko felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Well," Iroh started, "why don't we have some tea, and get some medicine and new bandages on that face, hmm?"

"Alright, Uncle," said Zuko tiredly. He felt his uncle's arm wrap around his shoulder and he slowly leaned into the half-embrace.

The worst was over. For now.

------------------------------

Ozai watched as the ship pulled away from the dock and started on its way into a never ending journey, unknown to Zuko. He felt no remorse for his son's absence and strangely felt an invisible weight seem to lift from his shoulders as he watched the ship become part of the horizon. Of course he couldn't say that he wasn't disappointed. After all, he had always said that Zuko would be a great ruler; powerful and merciless as himself.

Zhao came to stand next to the Fire Lord. "He most likely will not choose to take the fatal road as long as my brother is with him," said Ozai. "But I suppose we'll worry about that later. At least he's out of my sight. Resume your duties, Commander."

Zhao raised both eyebrows. "Excuse me, sir?"

"You have been promoted," said Ozai simply. "Just don't do anything to make me have to take that rank away from you."

"Yes, sir."

"In fact, I'm assigning you a new mission. I want you to prepare a raid tomorrow morning."

"To where, My Lord?"

"The South Pole."

TBC…

**A/N: **-collapses- Finally, it's done! I knew it was going to be a doozy, but I just didn't think it would be this long. And bleh! I did a crap job with it, too. For those that didn't read the author's note last time, this is a flashback chapter. Why did I make a flashback chapter? I don't know. I guess I just wanted to really explore what happened after that Agni Kai.

**A/N2: **Alright, well if you are reading this chapter for the first time, you should know that some things were altered, such as Zuko and Zula's conversation. I went back and changed some things after seeing episode 20. I want my stories to be as canon as possible, you see lol.


	10. Give Unto Me

_Chapter X_

**Give Unto Me**

The memory of the exile still plagued the Prince's mind very vividly. Time and time again, he tried to drown it with different, more enjoyable memories but it never did much to ensconce the painful details of his banishment. He did not even have that many pleasurable memories since after his mother passed away. Moreover, even meditation could not overcome it. Therefore, the memory lingered there; an old wound that never seemed to heal, just kept bleeding.

Prince Zuko had sulkily wandered to the stern of the ship again in hopes of allowing his anger and frustration to evaporate into the cool, ocean scented air. Normally he would just lock himself in his room when he wanted to be alone (which was close to all the time) but…well his room was probably still preoccupied at the moment. '_Why? Why did I bring that nosey peasant on my ship?' _Zuko gripped the railing of the ship angrily as visions of the waterbender slowly gnawed at his conscience. "She's trying to manipulate me. She's trying to get inside my head," he said to himself quietly as he began to pace the back of the ship frantically in frustration and confusion. If one of the guards happened to have walked by and seen him, he most likely would have thought the Prince looked like some dog that could not find its food dish.

He was going mad.

This girl was not like most girls; she did not show fear to him easily. It annoyed him, yes. However, it also fascinated him. This girl always seemed to stare at him as if she were trying to dig deep into the depths of his soul, and trying to see everything, every little secret that had locked itself away inside him. Zuko remembered the day he had invaded the Southern Water Tribe when he had come searching for the Avatar. He remembered the girl. It was only a quick glance but he still remembered her.

Blue eyes. She had blue eyes. That is all he really remembered at the time, and for someone that was far too preoccupied with capturing the Avatar, that was pretty amazing.

Of course, he had not thought much of her after that point. It was not until his run in with the pirates that he ever saw her again. His opinion of her still did not change much after that, but he really had not formed much of an opinion of her to begin with. All he knew after that day was that she was certainly brave, defiant, and stubborn. Oh was she stubborn, and Zuko found that amusing.

Despite all this, he still found the waterbender to be nothing but a mere peasant. A peasant with a spark, though he hated to admit. She had a certain affect on him that Zuko just could not comprehend. She was just so different. She had lost loved ones to the Fire Nation, and yet here she was, trying to open up to the _Prince _of the Fire Nation. Yet Zuko still felt that she was just trying to manipulate him into thinking that she actually gave a hoot about him. That had to be it. She was trying to persuade him to give up on his quest for the Avatar. Well…she had not really done or said anything to actually lean towards that theory yet, but why else would she be talking to him?

Zuko had a headache.

A breath of wind caressed his face and he managed to catch a relaxing moment. He looked out towards the calm ocean like he always did when on deck, and then shifted his gaze upwards. The sun shone brightly in the sky, not a cloud even attempting to hide its light. But something else caught Zuko's eye, too - the moon. The moon was out as well today. It was barely visible, but still noticeable nonetheless.

Zuko remembered, back when he was about five or so, how his mother had said that whenever a moon was out in daytime, it meant that a firebender and a waterbender had made peace between one another.

His mind traveled back to the Water Tribe girl…

No, it was just a coincidence.

Zuko shook his head. Just a coincidence…

The sun suddenly blinded him and he turned his back to it and leaned against the railing, gripping it with both hands so he did not fall right over the edge. He bit his lip softly, and then looked out towards the white trail of water the ship left behind as it sailed on. He finally gave in.

She wanted to hear his story? Fine. What would it change anyway? There was nothing that girl could say or do that would ever steer him toward a different path. He knew his destiny, and knew what he had to do in order to prove himself to his father, his people, and even himself. He had no other choice.

------------------------------

Katara stood alone in Prince Zuko's quiet quarters, a melancholy atmosphere now setting itself into place. The young waterbender tried recapping what had happened just a few short minutes ago but it did not seem to make sense. Maybe she was getting too close, too close for Prince Zuko's comfort. Or even _her _comfort.

She felt that she had gotten halfway in. He was slowly opening up to her, but she did not have the full story, did not have the reasons for the Prince's repeated actions. He had obviously suffered different amounts of pain when he was younger. Katara knew very well the pain of losing a mother.

The small flames of the candles continued to burn, flickering and dancing, almost as if they were competing with one another by trying to stretch to their highest peak. Katara studied them, marveling at their beauty. Fire truly was beautiful, and it was horrible to see it being abused the way it was.

Katara looked down at the iron hair piece still currently resting in the palm of her hand. Zuko had suffered great pain. That much she knew, but why did he have to be so stubborn? Was it really that bad that she was only trying to be of some comfort to him, to help him realize that he is not alone in this world? '_It must be a guy thing.' _Well, she knew it would not be easy anyway. Iroh himself had even said that.

The door opened suddenly and Katara jumped with surprise. Zuko stepped into the room and glanced at the girl who was now in a standing position with a somewhat frightened expression. "I see you're still here," said the prince. He walked towards her and she started edging away slowly. When she saw him sit down on the small bench where she had been sitting previously she relaxed slightly. "Give it back," said Zuko softly as he outstretched his arm behind him without turning to face the girl. Katara looked down at the flame and then placed it gently in Zuko's palm. His hand closed slowly and he retracted his arm back to the front.

Silence fell over the room again.

"So…you want to know what happened, do you?" asked the firebender.

"Well…yeah," said Katara nervously.

"Fine, if you have to know." Zuko leaned forward and blew a gentle breath over the lit candles. The flames flickered furiously before they finally went out, smoke now beginning to swirl and fill the air with its scent of burnt wick. He inhaled before he opened his mouth to speak. "It happened two years ago, when I was fourteen…"

Fourteen? That meant that Zuko was only sixteen now; he was still just a kid.

"My father was having a council meeting in his war room one evening. He had these meetings monthly, and I wanted to go in. I had wanted to go in there for years, ever since I was a child. I wanted to be in there with my father…I wanted to look superior in his eyes I guess, to make him proud. Not just that but I'm the heir. I _needed _to start learning what I could to prepare me for the day I took the throne. But every time I tried going in I was denied because I was still too young. But my uncle decided to let me in this time. He figured I was ready." Zuko let out an uneasy breath before continuing:

"Before we went in my uncle told me not to speak out. It was not my place to speak after all. I knew that…and I had intended _not _to speak…but I had no idea what kind of war strategies these people had intended on discussing. They were planning an attack on an Earth Kingdom battalion, and one general decided to send in the Forty-first Division for the attack. They were new recruits, though. They had not had any advanced training yet. The whole point of the general's plan was to use them as bait, a distraction while they attacked from behind. They were planning to sacrifice their own people! It was betrayal, and my father just sat there and didn't even bother to speak out against it. But I certainly wasn't going to sit there and keep my mouth shut.

"I spoke out, I did exactly what my uncle told me not to do, and I didn't realize what I had done until after I had done it. I looked to my father, and I knew that I had angered him. In times like these, firebenders settled disputes by taking part in an Agni Kai, a fire duel. Since I had spoken out against the general's plan, I thought that he was whom I'd be fighting, so I told him I was ready to fight and was not afraid. I was determined to win, but what I had not realized was that I had actually disrespected my father by speaking out in _his _war room. Because of that…I had to duel _him._"

Katara's eyes widened slightly.

"I couldn't fight my own father. I was loyal to my family, and saw no rhyme or reason to fight someone of my own blood. Afraid? Maybe, but either way, I couldn't bring myself to fight him…so I begged his forgiveness…"

"Then what happened?" Katara asked quietly. There was a moment's pause, and then Zuko turned his head slightly, the scarred side of his face now in Katara's view.

"He showed me no mercy," he whispered.

Katara gasped. "You mean…your own father…?"

"Yes…my own father. And now every day I have to live with the horrid memory of it all, to suffer with this disgraceful reminder of my failure," he spat as he pointed to the scar on his face.

Katara just stared wide-eyed, her mouth hanging open in shock. "That's…That's awful," she said, unsure of any comforting words she could offer to the firebender.

"I had shown weakness in my father's eyes…and as punishment, he banished me, and the only way I can return home is to capture the Avatar and bring him to my father. It's the only way I can prove myself honorable to him…to myself. Now do you understand?" the Prince asked with a small eruption of anger.

Katara looked down at the floor, still in shock. It all made sense now. This entire pursuit had been for a meaningful purpose. Well, at least in the sense that he wasn't doing it to help the Fire Nation see victory. He just wanted to go home. Any child would. His family and honor meant everything to him, but what he was not realizing was that he actually had a choice in all this. Getting him to realize it, though, was going to be an even bigger challenge than it was getting him to actually open up to someone.

"I'm sorry," said Katara after a moment's silence. "I didn't-"

"Save it," Zuko interrupted. "If there's one thing I don't need right now, it's your pity." Zuko stood up and lowered his head as he leaned forward, firmly placing his hands on the small table in front of him. "For two years I have thought of nothing else but my honor and the Avatar. He is the very bane of my life. Yet he is the only thing that gives me hope for returning to my homeland. You have no idea what it's like to be cast out of your own nation, to be weak in your father's eyes…TO HAVE THE WHOLE WORLD AGAINST YOU!" Zuko shouted as he gripped the table with a great deal of strength and then flung it to the side of the room. It slammed against the wall loudly and the four little candles went flying everywhere. Katara looked down as one of them rolled against her foot, and then solemnly looked back up at the Prince, who was currently breathing heavily.

"I can understand where you're coming from, but you know…what you did was not dishonorable. You stood up for your nation, for your people. I know you think that what you're doing right now is the only way, but it's not. "

Zuko laughed coldly as he turned slowly to face the girl. A malicious glare had set itself onto his hard face. "What do you know about honor? You, a mere Water Tribe peasant?" he said as he looked the girl up and down. "You wouldn't know true honor if it slapped you in the face."

"You mean like this?" Katara asked sharply and slapped the Prince across the face. It was not a hard slap, but it was enough to shock the firebender no doubt. "If you capture Aang, do you have any idea what will happen? They will lock him up and the world will have no hope of surviving. Is that what you really want? Would you be willing to jeopardize the entire world just for your honor?"

"I have no choice!"

"Yes you do, Zuko! Everyone has a choice in everything they do!"

"No, everyone has a destiny to fulfill, and mine is to capture the Avatar and reclaim my place on the throne. It is what I _must_ do, not what I _choose_," Zuko whispered and turned away from the waterbender. "And a lowly peasant like you could never understand that," he spat as he turned away from the waterbender and gazed angrily out of the long, narrow window of his quarters.

Katara's eyes remained fixed on the firebender's back, slowly growing dark and even sad as the Prince's harsh words finally took affect on her.

"You know, I thought there was the slightest hope that you were different. I thought for sure that I could get you to understand but who am I kidding? You're just like all the rest of them! Cold, heartless, ruthless snakes who care about no one but themselves, or couldn't care less about their actions. I don't know why I even waste my breath by speaking to you. Maybe I _am _a peasant, maybe I'm not royalty, but at least I know what passes for honor in this world, because you certainly don't. You're too blinded by your own vulgar sense of superiority to even realize what it really means! I don't know why I even bother. A selfish, inconsiderate, heartless prince; that's all you are!" she spat as she turned from the Prince who had now stiffened slightly, and stormed out of the room, slamming the steel door behind her, which echoed her anger throughout the dimmed hallway.

Katara managed to make it but a few feet down the hallway when she slowly came to a halt. She looked at the floor, guilt constricting itself around her gentle heart and making her wince painfully inside. She had not meant those words. Her anger had only gotten the best of her, as it had many times before. She looked back towards the door with an undecided expression. She sighed, and then guiltily made her way back towards the door. Her trembling hand reached out to the door to open it. It lingered there for a moment before she pulled it back quickly. She shook her head slowly. Though she might not have meant what she said, Zuko had still hurt her first, and she was only trying to comfort him to begin with. If she was going to apologize, then it would not be until Zuko apologized first.

'_Yeah, it'll be a cold day in the Fire Nation before that happens' _she thought.

------------------------------

Iroh turned his attentionaway from the moonwhen he heard the door open, noticing a baffled looking Katara step out onto the deck and stroll over to the railing of the ship, muttering something that sounded like, "Stubborn princes," and, "Only trying to help."

"Oh dear," sighed Iroh as he stood up from his stool and made his way over to the disgruntled waterbender.

"Katara?"

"What?" Katara snapped as she whirled around to face the owner of the voice.

"Woah, now," said the old general as he held up his hands defensively. "I'd like to _keep _my head if that's alright with you."

Katara managed a small chuckle. "Sorry," she muttered.

"So…I take it you already tried speaking to my nephew?"

"I really started to believe I could get him to understand...but he's just so…"

"Impossible, I know. But it has nothing to do with you. I can never get him to open up to me anymore. He scares me sometimes. All the time, he's locked up in his room, hours at a time…I just feel like he's slowly drifting away…so far that I can't even hold on to him in order to pull him back. I don't know what to do anymore. Ever since that day he's completely shut himself out. He was never like this, believe me. You have to understand where he's coming from before you can have any hopes of breaking the ice."

Katara sighed. "What do I have to do?" she whispered.

Iroh stroked his beard for a moment. "Well, perhaps you _did _manage to get through to him. It's possible it's just having a delayed effect, though."

"I don't know."

Iroh placed a comforting hand on Katara's shoulder. "Well, I must say I'm impressed that you even tried. Courage is most definitely one of your strong points."

Katara smiled at the man's words. She glanced up at the elder firebender, whose attention was focused elsewhere. He had a very peaceful expression played out on his face. In fact, he always seemed to look at peace, where most firebenders carried expressions that matched Zuko's constant glare. But Katara saw a lot in this man just by studying his eyes and face; he had seen a lot of war, watched people die, fought, killed, and now here he was, retired and becoming an old man, who only valued the simple things in life. He was a man who wanted to live without having to worry about what kind of chaos the following day might bring.

It was then that Katara suddenly remembered the boy in the portrait.

"Zuko told me you have a son named Natsu. How come he didn't come with you? Is he still training back home? Is he fighting in the war?"

Iroh had stiffened slightly. He let his mouth open and close several times before he slowly turned to Katara to reply. "No," he said quietly. "He…ran away…five years ago when he was sixteen."

Katara's eyebrows shot up. "Why?"

"I don't know…he left no note or anything…just…left. We had not had a fight or anything. I didn't understand."

"What about him and his mom? Did they have a difficult relationship?" asked Katara, trying to think of any possible reason for why Iroh's son would suddenly want to run away.

Iroh shut his eyes. "No, my wife died shortly after the birth."

Katara's lowered her gaze. "Oh…I'm really sorry."

"They wanted to send out search parties…but I refused. I figured my son had a reason for leaving…and I was not going to force him to return against his will…but I think of him every day, wondering if he's still alive, or if he's thinking of me, like I think of him. All that I hope for now, is that he's happy."

Katara watched as Iroh turned away from her slowly and left her alone to ponder over her situation again. She felt completely alone right now, despite the fact that there were several guards around. Her mind had become flooded with thoughts of Iroh's lost son, and then eventually settled back to the temperamental Prince. She knew, despite what she said, that he was different in a good light. She had been expecting a negative reaction from him, but maybe Iroh was right. But if he was, then how long would it take for Zuko to finally wake up?

She tried picturing herself in Zuko's position and figured that she herself would act just as stubborn as he was. He was being pressured after all, and in his sort of situation Katara knew that he needed time to sort out the pros and cons. She figured she might as well back off. She could not force him to realize what was right. This was something he had to discover for himself. Zuko did not need someone to hold his hand. He obviously knew the difference between right and wrong seeing as though he was punished for actually doing the right thing. What she did not understand, though, was how Zuko would want to earn love from someone who obviously had no love to give. Fathers did not burn their own sons and banish them from their homes no matter what they do! And what Zuko did was every possible definition of honorable, so why could he not see that? This boy certainly was a mystery.

'_He's kind of cute though' _Katara thought, then blushed lightly.

------------------------------

Zuko had migrated over to his bed to relax his mind and eyes, but that blasted waterbender would not flee from his thoughts. Her words had definitely struck a nerve in him. What did she know about anything? She had no idea the kind of pain he suffered. She did not know what real pain was.

Zuko's hand brushed over a small bulge in his pocket and his eyes fluttered opened. He slipped his fingers into his pocket and pulled out the item that had been resting inside. The carved Water Nation symbol stared back at his now fallen face. What was he thinking? She _did _know pain. She had lost her mother, just as he had lost his, and he knew how that felt; the feeling of the world suddenly stopping, the feeling of hopelessness, it was all familiar to Zuko. So maybe she hadn't been banished from her home, but she had lost loved ones, seen her own people, who were still considered her family, die. It was as clear as rain.

"Oh, Great Agni, why will you not let me live at peace? Tell me! What am I supposed to do? Please, Agni, bless me with a simple answer. I can't take this," whispered Zuko so quietly he barely heard his own words. He turned over silently, and shut his eyes, the necklace still resting in his closed hand.

Only a few seconds had passed when a knock came at the door. "Yes?" Zuko grumbled into his pillow. The door opened with a loud creak and Iroh stepped into the room.

"Prince Zuko?"

Zuko lifted himself into a sitting position, placing the necklace out of sight so to avoid unwanted questions. He took note of the solemn expression on his uncle's face and became curious of what he had come to ask or tell him.

"Zuko…why did you tell the girl I had a son?"

Zuko had not been expecting this question.

"Well…she came in here, and found the portrait in my chest and was curious about him. I wasn't going to lie."

Iroh sighed, and then noticed the overturned table and the candles littered all over the floor. "Oh my…you didn't try to kill each other, did you?"

"No, Uncle. She was curious about a lot of things…and so as I was explaining them to her, I hadn't noticed my anger had built up until that point."

"I see."

"Are you angry with me?"

Iroh figured his nephew was referring back to his earlier question. "No, Zuko…I just don't like speaking of my son that much anymore. It hurts."

Zuko's eyes drifted from his uncle to his hands currently laced together in his lap. "Sometimes it's best to talk about things. Even if they're painful."

Iroh cocked an eyebrow. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm _you_ here, and you're _me_ all of a sudden? I'm usually the one telling you these sorts of things."

They both laughed, and it felt pretty good to say the least. They had not had a good laugh together in a long time.

Zuko replayed his words in his head and had to admit that they definitely sounded like something his uncle would say, with an occasional proverb thrown in. But what was even more strange to the Prince was how he had said this, and only minutes ago had told Katara his long-kept secret of his past after first overcoming the hesitation of reliving it. Now here he was, telling his uncle of all people that it was sometimes good to talk about certain things when it was he who had recoiled from the very idea of it. It almost made Zuko laugh right out loud a second time.

Iroh came to sit beside his nephew. "She's quite a girl, you know?"

Zuko just shrugged.

"I don't see anything wrong with getting to know her. She's quite a pleasure to talk to."

"Uncle, what are you getting at here?"

"What do you mean?" the man asked innocently. "I just figured it would be good to talk to someone around your own age. I find it very healthy."

"Well so are carrots, but that doesn't mean that I like them."

Iroh stroked his beard again. "I suppose you've got a point there. I remember always trying to get you to eat them and you wouldn't." He turned to Zuko and smiled. "But to me, this girl isn't a carrot, she's more of a moon peach, lovely and sweet," he said pleasantly, and then stood to leave. He stole one last glance at his nephew before leaving the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Zuko let out a low grunt and fell back into his pillow, then pulled it from behind his head and smothered himself with it.

------------------------------

Night came without clouds, so the moon showed off its beauty proudly. The ship moved onward, now moving at a more slower pace so to save coal.

Katara lay on her cot, her eyes closed and both hands folded up underneath her chin. She had fallen asleep just moments ago, with the last thoughts of Aang and her brother present in her mind. She missed them now more than ever.

Before sleep had taken her, though, Katara began being bombarded by horrible thoughts of Aang and Sokka being captured by firebenders and being locked up with no hopes of escaping. These thoughts would not be suppressed by sleep, so they became her nightmares, causing her to whimper and toss and turn as she slept.

The sound of keys jingling and a door opening did not bring the waterbender from her sleep. As the Prince slowly stepped through the doorway, he took note of the distress on the girl's face, and so he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Almost instantly, her mild thrashing stopped and she managed to relax as she continued snoozing. Zuko pulled his balled fist from his pocket and opened it, revealing what he thought only to be a burden to him. He took the necklace from his palm and then gently took Katara's hand and placed the necklace in it, closing her hand once the necklace was resting safely in its owner's palm.

Zuko frowned and stepped back as he watched the girl sleep on. She was having an affect on him…and it was anything but comforting.

------------------------------

Katara awoke the next morning and sat up to stretch. As her arms extended towards the ceiling she looked up, feeling a slight weight in her left palm. She pulled her arm down and opened her hand, gasping as what little light was in the room reflected off the blue, carved pendant.

"My mother's necklace," she gasped and quickly tied the necklace securely around her neck. Suddenly feeling a presence in the room she turned and found the Prince standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

"I thought we could talk."

TBC…

* * *

**A/N: **I know it seems this story is going nowhere, but I _do_ have plans for it. Right now I'm just trying to take it slow (maybe too slow) and not make the mistakes so many other Zutara writers make. The background information in this chapter on Iroh's son did not spawn from episode 19. Natsu is a character that I've had in mind for at least four months and am just now starting to bring to the story. I had already planned for the subject of Iroh's son to be brought up in this chapter. All information on him that you read was already stored away in my mind months ago. Episode 19 had nothing to do with it, just so you know. Yeah, I fell over when Iroh mentioned he had a son XD 


	11. No Easy Way Out

_Chapter XI_

**No Easy Way Out**

Zuko and Katara spent most of the morning casually walking around the boat deck, ignoring the curious glances they received from the not-so-merry guards. No apologies had been said yet. They spent most of their time talking about their lives when they were growing up. Both were just trying to avoid what they wanted to say.

"Did you ever live at the North Pole?" asked Zuko. He really was not all that interested, but Katara had been asking most of the questions so he figured it was his turn.

"No, I've lived at the South Pole my entire life. I know it doesn't look like much now, but there was more to it before the raid," said Katara. She noticed Zuko's suddenly distraught expression and frowned. "Oh, sorry, I guess I shouldn't have brought that up." She cleared her throat. "Well, you've been traveling for two years, have you met any interesting people?"

"For your information, I haven't been _traveling_. I've spent these last couple of years in hot pursuit of something in order to regain something else. This isn't some well-deserved vacation."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Fine, sorry."

Zuko rubbed the bridge of his nose and waved his other hand in the air dismissively. "No, forget it. In case you couldn't already tell, I get angry easily."

"Oh, don't worry, I took note of that a long time ago," said Katara as she folded her arms over her chest. "But I do, too, so I can relate," she said with a shrug. "I have an older brother, and that's no picnic. Speaking of food, Sokka says stuffing your face is a great way to resolve your anger."

"Your brother's an idiot," said Zuko as he leaned against the railing, enjoying the feel of the calm breeze. He had no idea how their conversation had become so random, but it was rather amusing.

"Hey, let's just get one thing straight, if anyone's going to say he's an idiot, it'll be me. It's my birth right, after all," said Katara proudly. Zuko just smirked. "But he _can_ be idiotic sometimes. He'll say the corniest things, and then he'll look at me with this big grin on his face like he's expecting me to applaud him or something."

Zuko snorted. "Uncle looks at me the same way when he makes a good move in Pai-Sho."

Katara laughed. "He's a good man."

"I know. He's taught me everything I know." Zuko had been avoiding Katara's gaze the entire morning, but at that moment he managed to pass her a quick glance, only to be met with those mesmerizing blue eyes. Those eyes held such an alluring fascination for the Prince that it drove him absolutely insane.

Katara quickly turned herself away from his captivating gaze, blushing lightly for like the millionth time since she had been taken captive. She had never blushed so much in one place. What was wrong with her? '_Oh please, Great Spirits, don't tell me I'm attracted to him!'_

Zuko heaved a heavy sigh and pushed himself off the railing, becoming more agitated. "Look, I didn't bring you out here for small talk," he said irritably. He turned sharply from Katara and walked several feet across the deck before stopping and turning to face the waterbender again. She remained where she had been standing, only now her attention was focused strictly on the firebender and she now carried a more curious expression. "I know you were only trying to help. Even I'll admit I overreacted." Katara knew that had to have been hard to say. "But you know me and my temper. Look, I'm not good at apologies…I just became angry."

"Well I could have told you that," interrupted Katara.

Zuko narrowed his eyes, clearly annoyed by the girl's slightly brash statement. "Can I finish here?" he asked. The response he received was another roll of the eyes. "Ok, well, like I said, I became angry. I became angry with you, with myself, this entire mission…and it just all built up. But all that anger didn't build up in those few short minutes you were in there, that anger has been building up for a long time, ever since the day I was banished, and I just couldn't contain it anymore." Zuko took a deep breath. "I'm sorry…I guess."

His voice had been quiet, distant even, but Katara still heard him. She stared at the Prince with her mouth hanging wide-open. Hearing him utter those two little words gave her the urge to suddenly pinch herself just to see if this was a dream or not. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She couldn't help herself, she just had to poke at his pride. "Well, what a surprise, the almighty, arrogant Prince of the Fire Nation apologizes. I was certain I'd see hogmonkeys fly before I heard this."

Her taunting was suddenly cut short,

"Look, you little pest, I can take back my apology just as easily as I can give it."

"But it wasn't easy. If it were that easy then it wouldn't have taken you nearly a day to do it, so clearly taking back your apology would be just as difficult," Katara teased.

"Then perhaps you'd like it better if I just threw you over the side of this ship!"

Katara held her side as she laughed. "Relax, ok? I was only kidding around. Geez, you really do get angry easily, don't you?"

Zuko felt his face heating up, much to his dislike. "Stupid waterbender," he muttered under his breath, quietly enough that Katara would not hear him. How could he let himself be pulled into her childish taunts? He was sixteen years old, he should know better than that.

Katara finally managed to stop laughing long enough to prepare herself for her own awaited apology. "I'm sorry, too. Just like you, I got angry and I said a lot of things that I didn't mean. I know you're not like most firebenders I've met, not that that means I don't think you're a pain in the butt, but I guess it's safe to say you're living proof that you can't judge a book by its cover."

Zuko exhaled, feeling the heat in his face finally subside. "This changes nothing, I hope you realize that. My mission still stands," he said curtly, before turning to leave, but much to Katara's knowledge, the firebender had not won the argument just yet. In fact, it had only just begun.

"Stop, Zuko," she said.

"What?" snapped the Prince.

"Come here."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, 'Come here,'" repeated Katara in the same patient tone.

Zuko sneered. "I don't take orders from anyone. Especially you." Zuko turned to leave again. Why did he always have to be such a hot-head?

"You take orders from no one, you say? Well it doesn't seem that way to me. As I recall, your father was the one who told you to capture the Avatar. That wasn't your choice, it was an order, and it seems to me that you're trying to follow through on that order. Yet you say you take orders from no one?"

Zuko stopped suddenly, whirling around to face Katara with a nasty glare, but it did not intimidate her in the least. She stood firm with her arms crossed and eyes settled on the Prince, awaiting his obviously snippy response.

He took a few slow steps towards her, fists balled angrily at his sides. "I'm doing this for my-"

"Honor, honor, honor! You're doing this for your honor, I know that! I've heard it already! Prince Zuko is trying to capture the Avatar for his honor!" Katara yelled to the sky. She lowered her head so that her eyes were leveled with his again. She would have laughed at his surprised expression if she were not so frustrated. "Tell me something, Zuko, what is honor anyway? And I want to hear it from you, not from your father."

Katara's eyes stayed fixed on Zuko's face, studying his change of expressions and taking note of his suspicion and confusion. She knew that in his heart, he knew what honor was, or had had a shady idea of it at least. The only thing that was getting in the way was his father. He wanted his father to be proud of him. She understood that, but Zuko just was not realizing that sometimes your own father may not know the difference between right and wrong. It was natural for a boy to want to be like his father, to listen to everything he says and do everything exactly how he does it, but that was the whole point she was trying to make: Zuko was not like his father, not in the least.

But it was not just his father that brought about Zuko's obsession, it was his home and his throne, two things that were dear to him. He had been away from home for two years and only wanted to return. Katara wondered if maybe he wanted to take the throne, not just because it was his destiny since birth, but if perhaps he was planning to put a stop to this war once he took the throne. But didn't he know that would not happen if he captured the Avatar? He could not stop this war alone, if those truly were his intentions.

Zuko had remained silent the entire time. His abashed face told Katara that he was fighting for an answer to her earlier question. "Alright, then let me ask you this, do you support this war?"

"…no," said Zuko, unsure of himself at this point.

"Then why, Zuko, why destroy the world's one chance of stopping it?"

"You just don't understand!" cried Zuko passionately, turning away from Katara again to pace the deck. It almost seemed as if he were having a silent argument with himself as his arms went flying all over the place. "My throne means everything to me…and so does my country."

"I understand that."

"No, you don't understand that. You weren't born into a family that expected something out of you. You didn't have to earn the love of your family, like I did."

"So you had to earn your mother's love, too?"

"Don't bring my mother into this."

"No, Zuko, did you have to perform for your mother in order to make her proud of you, or was she proud of you for who you were?"

Silence.

"What about your uncle? He's obviously proud of you. I don't see him burning off half your face just because you do something he doesn't approve of."

"SHUT UP!"

More silence.

"Who do you think you are?" Zuko spat venomously. "You think you've got my whole life figured out? You think you can just take every little detail you know about me and twist it around to prove that you're right and I'm wrong? My choices were never easy. My father expected everything out of me. He always pushed me. He expected perfection, for me to be great, just like him."

"You think he's great? Just look what he's done! Not just to you, but to this world!"

Zuko looked down at his feet. He was losing this argument, and badly, too.

"Ok, last question: do you think you're honorable?"

Zuko's head shot up. He could not believe she was asking him that question, but it almost did not surprise him. It was a simple yes or no question, yes, but it was not a fair question. If he said yes then Katara would once again bombard him with question after question about why he was still proceeding with this mission, and if he said no, then, well wait a minute, what _did _he think? He had never asked himself that question before. Then it dawned on him that he did not know.

"I…I don't know," he replied quietly, feeling his face heat up once again.

Katara just shook her head. Taking a deep breath, she strolled over to the roiled Prince and reached out her hand to gingerly touch his scar. He flinched slightly, but did not pull away.

"This, Zuko, this is honor," she said quietly. Taking her hand back slowly, she once again awaited his response.

His face went through a number of expressions before he finally managed a reply. "You are _twisted_. This," he said as he pointed to his scar, "isn't honor. You understand me? This…is shame….disgrace. This is weakness," he said silently.

"No, it's not, Zuko. That scar is not a reminder of your failure, it's a reminder of your bravery and honor that you gained standing up for what you believe in. If I can see that, why can't you?" asked Katara desperately.

Never in his last two years, had Zuko looked in the mirror and thought of his scar as a mark of honor, and now, he was confused. His thoughts were racing, and he suddenly felt like a cornered animal. What was it about this girl? What was she doing to him? A part of him was actually starting to believe her words…

He had to get away.

He took a few slow steps backwards and said, "I'm getting hungry. I'm going to breakfast." He turned and left, walking at a quick pace, but still refraining from running. But that did not matter, Katara knew that he wanted to get away, and she respected that. With so many new thoughts buzzing around in his head like a swarm of angry scorpion bees, he _needed _to have some time alone to sort them out. But what would he choose?

------------------------------

Later that afternoon Iroh invited Katara up into the helm for a game of Pai-Sho with the crew. Iroh and Lt. Jee had played a few games before Katara decided to give it a whirl. She had never played the game before, but she caught on very quickly, much to Iroh's surprise. They both played three games, Katara winning one of them.

"Excellent game, my child. Care for another?" asked Iroh. He had already started setting up the pieces again.

Katara shook her head. "No, thanks." She stood, regaining the feeling in her legs, and made her way out onto the balcony of the helm, looking out over the deck. She noticed Prince Zuko alone on the deck, dressed in his training vest and pants, practicing firebending techniques. Judging by how fiercely he was practicing, it was easy to tell that he was only trying to distract himself from the conversation he had shared with Katara that morning. He was angry, confused, and above all that, probably hurt.

"You can see the whole world from up here, can't you?" asked Iroh as he came to stand beside Katara.

"Yeah," Katara sighed.

"Rough morning, I presume?"

Katara made a 'pfft' sound and received a chuckle from Iroh. "Well, I saw you two walking around the boat deck this morning, so I had taken it that you made up, but after seeing Zuko come to breakfast with this sour look on his face, I figured I spoke too soon. What did you two discuss? Or argue about, rather?"

Katara looked at the old man dubiously, her thoughts lingering as she tried to find a suitable answer to give the retired general. She switched her attention back to Zuko below as she replied. "Well, I was…we were…forget it. I honestly don't want to talk about it. Let's just say I was trying to get through to him again."

"Ah, I see. But you know, when a lamb tries to converse with a wolf, you can't expect the wolf to not bite."

"Yeah, well unfortunately for that wolf, this lamb bites back," said Katara defiantly. Iroh laughed loudly.

"That she does, and hard, too, it seems," said Iroh as he glanced down at his nephew, who was now throwing fiery punches into the air in such a manner that it seemed he was actually trying to hit something that was very persistently provoking him into further fury.

Katara sighed pitifully at the sight below. She had to admit, she was beginning to form a slight attraction towards Zuko. After looking far beyond his rough, complex exterior, she had seen that there was far more to him then anyone had probably ever bothered to see. Maybe there really was more to all firebenders then what everyone was used to seeing. It was easy to look at a firebender and think, 'Scum,' but how many people had actually wondered what their lives were like back home, or if they ever had a difficult childhood, or if they had a family that cared for them? Were they ruthless, or were they only fighting because they, like Zuko, believed they had no other choice? It was hard to say, but after speaking with Zuko, it seemed possible. Then again, Zuko was very different and certainly not predictable.

Katara looked at Iroh again. "Is this how he always resolves his anger?"

"Oh yeah," said the elder firebender plainly. "He'll either do this, or go hide in his room. Sometimes both." He turned to Katara, smiling briskly. "You're getting to him. He's been living a very dark and enclosed life, barely able to see where he was going, and it seems you've shined a bright light in his face, and he's having trouble adjusting to it. But now that his vision is starting to clear, he is finally seeing the different options he's always had but was never able to see because of always living in the dark."

"He's still a pain," Katara grumbled.

"Can't say I disagree."

"Well, just talking to him is enough to wear you out, so I think I'm going to go lie down."

"Are you sure? Lunch will be served soon. You must be getting hungry?"

"No, I don't really feel that well. I think I just need to lie down."

"Alright then," said Iroh as he eyed Katara with concern.

Katara smiled and bowed before dismissing herself back to her cell.

------------------------------

After a thankfully dreamless sleep, Katara had awoken slowly. Sitting up, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and placed her feet on the cold, metal floor. She wanted to get up and move around, but for some reason she just did not have it in her. She felt a strange emotion begin to envelop her.

She stayed in her cell for some time, replaying her past conversations with Zuko and with Iroh. After a while, though, her thoughts excused themselves from the two firebenders and returned to the two people she missed more than anything right now. Where were they? Katara wanted so much to know whether or not they were safe, or if they were looking for her. What if they had given up? Katara shook her head and mentally slapped herself for even thinking such a question. She had to stop thinking like that.

She felt tears stinging her eyes, and before she knew it, they were streaming down her face with no hope of stopping any time soon, but she did not care. She let them fall without shame. Soon her silent tears were combined with soft, but steadily growing, sobbing. She buried her face in her hands as her sobs strengthened and racked her body. She never thought she'd miss her brother so much, and what she wouldn't give to see Aang's smiling face again.

She let herself cry for some time before she finally regained herself and stood up, feeling the need to satisfy her lungs with the taste of fresh air. She walked out of the small cell with her head lowered in dismay, paying attention only to her moving feet. As she walked out of the cell, she felt herself walk directly into someone. She looked up, hoping it was Iroh, but saw that it was Zuko.

"What are you doing down here?" she asked quietly, still tired from crying.

"My uncle told me I should check on you. He said you told him you weren't feeling well."

'_So you didn't come down here on your own…' _"Oh." She lowered her gaze away from his eyes and brought them back down to the floor.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Her response had come out as a soft squeak. '_No, I can't cry in front of him. Oh please no.' _But the tears came anyway. She bit back a sob, but Zuko had seen her shoulders give a sudden jerk.

"You miss them," he said. It was more of statement than a question. Katara looked up at him for a moment, but she quickly turned away. Why could she not look him in the eye?

She moved her head forward slightly, so that it rested against Zuko's broad chest. She had been afraid to look at him, afraid to cry in front of him, but at that moment, she somehow knew that he would not push her away, and he didn't.

Zuko placed his hands on Katara's shoulders gently. He felt like he should do more, like hug her, but the very thought of doing it made him feel uneasy and very out of place. Still, he felt he should at least say something of comfort.

"It's alright," he said. "Do you want anything? Tea or something to eat?"

Katara looked up at the Prince, surprised by his sudden courtesy. Who knew Prince Zuko could actually be nice? "No, thanks." Katara wiped the tears from her eyes and tried her best to smile. "I'm fine. I just need some fresh air."

Zuko let his hands slip from her shoulders as he nodded. He watched as she stepped aside to walk past him and then he turned around to watch her leave with a slightly concerned expression.

And here came the guilt. Unfortunately for Zuko, though, he was not able to push aside his guilt this time, and it began its process of eating at his heart, very slowly and painfully. He began kicking himself, yet again, for ever bringing her on board his ship.

------------------------------

_Some hours later… _

The sun was setting slowly, its dying light giving the sky a beautiful, brilliant pink glow. Puffy, orange-tinted clouds drifted silently over the little town as it settled down for the night.

Sokka slid open the thin door and stepped into the dusty old room. There were two futons laid out in front of them which looked to be in relatively good condition, but they had brought the sleeping bags in anyway. Appa lay outside the small inn, exhausted from the long flight and thankful to finally gain some rest.

"An inn? Why are we staying here again?" asked Sokka. "We should be looking for my sister!" he yelled, kicking the futon.

"Sokka, we didn't stop to rest last light. Appa's really tired, and so I am, and you are, too," said Aang. "And this place is nice and warm, and the people here are really nice, too. Just relax for a minute, Sokka."

The warrior snorted and paced the room, ignoring his exhaustion. His eyes were stinging from lack of rest. He was in desperate need of sleep, and he had not eaten anything all day. Aang did not like this. Just two days ago, he was at least able to drool over food like he always did, but now that and sleep did not matter to him anymore. This was not the Sokka he knew or liked.

Aang sat down on one of the futons and Momo seized the opportunity to jump into his lap. The little creature looked over at the Water Tribe boy and his ears lowered in sadness as he watched the usually energetic boy stare sadly at the wall. "Sokka, you know Katara. She's strong. I'm worried about her, too, but we have to stay strong too…for her."

Sokka turned to the airbender. "I always nag her, always poke fun at her…and sometimes she makes me so mad, I just wish she'd go away."

"Sokka, you guys are brother and sister, it's your jobs to get on each other's nerves. It's what siblings do. I know how you feel."

"Did you have a brother or sister?" asked Sokka as he sat down on the futon opposite of Aang.

"Well, no," said Aang glumly as he lowered his head.

"Then you can't possibly know how I feel."

Aang lifted his head. Even in the worst situations, there was always a small glimmer of hope in those gray eyes. It never fazed him. "Well, I've kind of always thought of Katara like my big sister. Our bond might not be the same as the one you guys share, the kind of bond real brothers and sisters have, but I'd say it's pretty close," he said, smiling.

Sokka laced his fingers together. "If I ever saw my dad again and I told him I couldn't protect my own sister…"

"That's not going to happen, Sokka. I won't let it happen, and neither will you. Katara's been in situations like this before. Remember, back in Haru's village when she got herself arrested? I was the one that was worried, but you kept telling me she'd be fine, so now I'm telling you that she'll be fine. Now come on, why don't you eat something before going to sleep? You're starting to scare me with all this not eating."

Sokka finally managed to smile. "Yeah, alright."

Aang reached for the small blue bag that he had placed all of their food in and grabbed a couple of tangerines. He tossed one to Sokka, who pulled out his knife and started peeling it. Aang bit off a little piece and gave it to Momo, who started nibbling on it happily.

Sokka snorted suddenly, bringing Aang's attention to him. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"I just had this thought. Wouldn't it be funny if Katara hogtied Zuko, gagged him, threw him in a cell and then escaped?" Sokka started laughing again at the random thought. Aang just shook his head, smiling. "And I hope she does just that, too," he added, a bit more firmly.

"You're strange," said Aang.

"Come on! You know that'd be funny."

Aang didn't give the idea much thought, he was just glad to see Sokka laugh again.

------------------------------

"Now that is quite the sight, is it not?" asked Iroh as he peered up at the setting sun. He looked over at his nephew, who stood beside him. He, too, was staring at the giant ball of fire, but he did not seem to be marveling at it the way his uncle was. It seemed as though his thoughts were running far more deeper. "I take it she misses her brother and the Avatar?"

Zuko turned to his uncle and gave him a slow nod.

"I had a feeling. The poor thing."

"So now you're trying to make me feel guilty?" asked Zuko, ignoring the little voice that kept screaming, '_You're already feeling guilty you idiot!'_

"You could try to cheer her up a little bit more. You know this is not easy for her."

"What do you want me to say, Uncle?" Zuko rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. He glanced behind him to look at Katara, who stood on the other side of the deck, looking out over the ocean again longingly. "I'm not good at talking to people. That's your area of expertise, so why don't you do it?"

"Ohh, Zuko," sighed Iroh. He decided to give up for the time being. It was getting late and he was tired. It was not the best time in the world to argue with a stubborn teenager, whose main hobby was winning an argument.

"Prince Zuko!" someone yelled urgently from behind, bringing both Iroh and Zuko's attention back to the world around them and withdrawing their previous thoughts.

Both Zuko and Iroh turned as Lt. Jee approached them swiftly. His expression was stern, and even nervous, it seemed. Zuko furrowed his brow in concern.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"I think we've got company," said Jee as he held out a small telescope to the Prince.

Zuko snatched the telescope from the Lieutenant's hand and made his way back to the stern, feeling dread starting to build up and weigh down on him like a ton of bricks. Approaching the stern he unfolded the telescope and peered through the end of it anxiously. The sight was enough to make Zuko's blood run cold.

Twelve Fire Navy ships shone just off the horizon, all aligned perfectly and slowly making their descent towards Zuko's ship.

"What is it, Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked as he came to stand beside his nephew.

"A small fleet. Twelve ships total, heading straight this way," said Zuko as he handed the telescope to Iroh to have a look for himself. Iroh took note of the center ship. Its bow was designed differently from all the rest. This best indicated that that ship was under the command of a soldier of high rank, and Iroh only knew of one man who had ranking power to hold command of a fleet.

"Zhao," breathed Iroh.

"I knew it," spat Zuko.

"I don't like the looks of this. Come, Zuko," said Iroh as he turned to make his way back to the front of the ship again, Zuko following close behind. "He's here for a reason, and unfortunately it's not for a cup of tea. Wait, Zuko, you told me you told the Admiral that you had the Avatar on board your ship."

"Yes. I was only throwing him off my trail. I left him unconscious at the island after telling him the Avatar was on board my ship. I knew that when he woke up he'd head for the Fire Nation in pursuit to stop me and be out of the way for a while." Zuko let out a deep sigh, as anxiety fixated itself upon him. "I was hoping the Avatar would have come by now."

"What's going on?" asked Katara as she approached the two obviously distressed firebenders.

"Admiral Zhao's heading straight for our ship as we speak. He's the one who attacked you back at the island," said Zuko. He noticed Katara's face pale slightly. He couldn't blame her.

"What should we do, sir?" asked Lt. Jee. Prince Zuko looked from him to his uncle, who was currently in deep thought of finding a solution.

"Have them cut the engines," said Iroh to Jee.

"Uncle?"

"Zuko, I want you to make a break for that island," said Iroh sternly as he pointed behind his nephew to the very large island they had started to sail alongside. On board a ship, the island didn't look far at all. Less than a mile in fact, but from a swimmer's distance, it was anything but close.

"Uncle, have you lost your mind?"

"I'm serious, Zuko! I want you and Katara to swim to that island right now, and stay hidden. That island is enormous, there's plenty of places to hide. I will stay here and stall Zhao as long as I can."

"Uncle, he's not _that_ stupid. He'll eventually put two and two together."

"You have a better chance this way then you do staying on this ship."

"We can outrun them."

"No, Zuko, we can't. The speed of those ships are three times that of this ship.That island is your best option."

Both Zuko and Katara exchanged doubtful looks. "But once Zhao figures out we're over there, he'll probably have his entire fleet surround the island so we have no chance of getting off," said Zuko.

"That had crossed my mind, and that's why I was hoping that if the Avatar arrives any time soon, he can escort you out of there on the flying bison. Of course, Katara here may have to do some convincing first," said Iroh as he smiled weakly at Katara, knowing that the Avatar might not approve of rescuing the Prince, or at least her brother wouldn't.

"I never thought of that," said Katara enthusiastically.

"But you said you were hoping. Uncle, this is all on hope. Sometimes hope isn't reliable enough," said Zuko, bringing the doubtful look back upon Katara's face.

"And sometimes it is. You just have to have faith. Now go, you don't have much time. Keep each other safe." Iroh gave a Zuko a slight shove towards the railing of the ship. "You, too, Katara. Go! Now!" he yelled, startling both Zuko and Katara.

Both teens scampered over to the railing, passing one last worried glance at Iroh before they hurtled themselves into the frigid waters below.

TBC…

This chapter is dedicated to **Jaden **who hit the 200 review mark!

**A/N: **Wow, 53 effing reviews for chapter 10! Geez, I was not expecting that. I hope I get that kind of feedback from here on out XD I'd like to give a special thanks to **RedNovember**, **chickygurl**, **Midori Aoi**, **robin's-hope**, **Atalla**, **Lizzie, **and **Scarylady** whose reviews cheered me up and made me laugh the most, but thank you everyone else who reviewed. I do appreciate all the encouragement from those who said that my plot was not cliché, but I still can't say I don't think it is XD If people would just stop complaining about the plot, I'd feel a lot better.


	12. Into the Night

_Chapter XII_

**Into the Night**

Water invaded his lungs, cutting off his supply of air and sending him into a panic. He was swallowed beneath the surface, and all he could see in front of him was perpetual darkness, but a faint flash of blue told him that Katara was a ways ahead of him, kicking and maneuvering her arms gracefully through the water.

Zuko surfaced, spitting out the foul tasting water and took a deep breath, trying to gather as much air into his lungs as humanly possible. As soon as he was certain his lungs were going to explode, he dove under, and mimicked Katara's movements through the water. He was suddenly thankful he still wore his training outfit. He would have sunk like a rock if he had worn his armor. However, the feel of ice-cold water biting into the bare flesh of his arms was not exactly pleasurable, but at least he could swim easily.

He surfaced again, and turned his attention towards the fleet of ships that were slowly drawing closer to the ship he had just abandoned. He had no idea if they would make it to the island before Zhao or a soldier spotted them through the eye of a telescope. The island was still so far away.

A sudden, sharp pain erupted in Zuko's left side, halting his movements in the freezing water. His fierce swimming had already brought him a painful cramp, making it nearly impossible to swim further without the cramp increasing its pain. Zuko ceased his swimming and merely kicked his legs so to keep his head above the water.

"Come on!" a voice shouted up ahead. Zuko squinted his eyes, trying to see the girl ahead of him. Darkness drew ever closer, diminishing his ability to see ahead of him. Nevertheless, he still managed to catch a glimpse of Katara, who had now stopped swimming and remained floating in the active water just thirty or so feet ahead of him. "Hurry!" she shouted.

"I've got a cramp!" Zuko shouted back, and then took note of just how pathetic that sounded, and tried to continue swimming, but his side screamed in pain again. "Hold on!" he shouted. He did not know if Katara had heard him or not but he tried to focus his attention on his surroundings rather than the intense pain he was currently feeling in his side. He tried to listen for Katara's distant voice but heard nothing, and it continued to grow darker. Zuko had already begun to feel humiliated at the thought of drowning from a cramp. This was not how he wanted his life to end.

As his thoughts of death began to divert him from swimming, a hand took hold of his arm and he heard a surprisingly comforting voice say, "Come on, I'll help you." Katara's voice was calm, but still urgent, knowing the seriousness of the situation they were in. "Try to ignore the pain and just keep swimming!"

Instead of arguing, Zuko did as Katara said and started kicking and used his free arm to pull himself through the water. As they drew closer to the shore, they soon found themselves being bombarded by merciless waves, pushing them under the surface and knocking them every which way. In fact, every time they surfaced they were not even sure if they were going in the right direction since it was nearly dark now.

A powerful wave had separated both teens and so they had to rely on each other's voices in order to keep close to one another.

"I think I can use my waterbending to-"

Whatever Katara had said after that, Zuko did not hear for he was suddenly pulled under the surface by the undertow.

------------------------------

"I think I can use my waterbending to help get us to shore quicker!" Katara shouted, not knowing if Zuko was nearby, but she did not get a reply from the Prince. A slight panic began to rise from the pit of her stomach, and so she tried shouting his name. "Zuko! Can you hear me? Zuko!" Nothing. "ZUKO!" she screamed, feeling her throat becoming sore and scratchy.

After several seemingly eternal seconds, a gurgling shout could be heard not too far off. Katara nearly gave a cry of relief when she heard Zuko's voice. She headed in the direction of his voice, feeling through the water to find him. When she felt the soft fabric of his training vest she latched on to it and pulled him above the surface, but he barely had a chance to get a breath as another powerful wave forced both him and Katara underwater, the undertow taking both of them down this time.

Both teens held on to each other's clothes as the undertow pulled them further out to sea. Clutching onto Zuko tightly, Katara managed to pull both of them above the water long enough to get a breath of air. She strained to see ahead of her, as night had finally fallen, but miraculously saw the faint outline of the island. "Hang on," she said and tightened her hold on the firebender.

Feeling a new wave begin to descend upon them, Katara quickly took action and increased its size as it slammed into them with a powerful force. The wave rose higher and higher into the air, carrying its hitchhiker's to the awaiting shore. Once their destination was reached, the wave broke apart upon hitting land and dumped them into the wet sands roughly.

Katara rolled off of Zuko and they both began disposing of the seawater that had gathered in their lungs through painful fits of coughing. Both were relieved to be on land again, and out of the ocean's grasp. They glanced at each other several times, their breathing in a loud, heavy, identical rhythm.

"Well…we…made it," Katara managed to say between ravaged breaths.

Zuko replied with another fit of coughing.

------------------------------

The twelve fire-navy ships formed a circle around the smaller ship. The crew watched with emotionless faces as the fleet enclosed them, cutting of all chance for escape. Iroh glanced towards the island that was now practically invisible in the night, hoping that his nephew and Katara had made it to shore safely.

A gangplank was lowered from the lead ship to the deck of Zuko's ship. Iroh simply placed his hands in his sleeves as Zhao slowly made his way down the plank, along with two soldiers following behind with lanterns to light the way to the deck.

"Evening, Admiral," said Iroh with a slight nod.

Zhao did not bother to return the greeting, but instead started scanning the deck of the ship with disdainful eyes.

"Looking for someone?"

Zhao snapped his head towards the retired general, as if he had just acknowledged his presence. Narrowing his eyes, he curtly replied, "Yes, in fact. I'm looking for Prince Zuko. It's Fire Lord's orders that he be executed."

A flash of anger lit Iroh's eyes, but Zhao did not notice. "For what charges?" asked Iroh as calmly as he could.

A small chuckle from Zhao only brought Iroh more anger. "Well if being a failure counts as a charge then I guess that would be it," he replied with amusement. "Really, General Iroh, I think you and I both know your brother never had the intentions of letting Zuko return. He was just hoping this mission would be Zuko's demise, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen any time soon seeing as though the Avatar is indeed alive."

Iroh did not have enough strength to utter a reply, for he was too busy using it all to hold down his anger. Zhao's casual, emotionless tone was driving him right over the edge, but he still managed to keep his amounting fury just below the surface.

"So where _is _the Prince? I was surprised I didn't hear him barking orders when I arrived."

Iroh pushed his anger aside long enough to breathe out a reply. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen him for hours," he said, stroking his beard, trying to look as curious and thoughtful as possible. "Oh my," he said suddenly. "Several hours ago we made a stop at an Earth Kingdom port. Zuko must have stepped off the ship temporarily while the crew and I were buying supplies. We must have left without knowing he had left the ship. Oh dear," said the old man in fake despair.

The crew managed to hide their amusement at the general's quick lie. Zhao, however, was not amused at all.

"What do you take me for, Iroh? Do I really look that stupid to you? You two," Zhao pointed to the two soldiers standing beside him, "search this ship from top to bottom for Prince Zuko. Search every room inside the ship and report him back to me. Go!"

As the two soldiers began the search Zhao turned to face Iroh again with a sneer. "You can't protect him forever, General. Though I don't know you waste your time anyway, protecting such a sorry excuse of a-"

"I wouldn't speak, Zhao," Iroh spat.

Zhao cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh? Are you implying that _I _am the failure here, General Iroh? Surely not, because if I remember correctly you and your army didn't hold up so well during your siege at Ba-Seng-Sei. Is that why you retired? Did the humiliation eat at you until you saw refuge only in retirement?"

"It's people like you that make me consider coming out of retirement."

"Honestly, General. You're just as soft as Prince Zuko. It would explain why it's not you sitting on that throne, wouldn't it? And it's for these reasons why Zuko would never be fit to rule."

As hard as he tried, Iroh could not speak. Though his blood boiled with anger, and his tongue was practically about to jump out of his own mouth out of urge to spit back an insult, his conscience was slowly giving in to the Admiral's words. For years he had told himself these very same words; that he was weak, and without a doubt, a fool to think that he could have been a ruler.

Lowering his head, he shut his eyes in despair and anger.

----------------------------

"Let's go," said Zuko urgently as he grabbed Katara's arm roughly and pulled her to her feet, dragging her along behind him.

"Hey, stop! Wait a minute! Can't I catch my breath first?"

"No."

Katara jerked her arm out of Zuko's grasp and went to sit on log that had washed up onto the beach. "Just give me a minute, ok?" She leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees as her breathing slowly evened out again. Glancing at Prince Zuko, she saw that his attention was focused on the fleet of ships now surrounding his own, which could only be seen by the light escaping from the windows of the helms and illuminating the water. "I'm glad we got over here in time. What do you think they want?"

Zuko snorted. "Well, Zhao obviously wants revenge. While you were unconscious I gave him a pretty painful parting gift."

"What did you do?"

"Scorched his arms and left him unconscious." Zuko's impassive tone told Katara that he felt no regret. "But not just that," he continued, "right before I knocked him out I fooled him by saying I had the Avatar on board my ship. I knew he'd try to chase after me and recover the Avatar before I reached the Fire Nation." Zuko shrugged. "Well, he knows it was all a trick now, and he's obviously not at all happy about it."

"You like getting yourself into trouble, don't you?"

"I wouldn't talk. After all, I didn't steal a waterbending scroll."

Katara rolled her eyes. "I stole it from pirates!"

"Exactly."

"Oh just forget it."

As the wind started to pick up, both Zuko and Katara shivered in their still soaked clothes. Zuko used his firebending to evaporate the excess water out of his vest and pants, while Katara bended the water right out of her own clothes. Zuko settled himself down into the sand and let his eyes wander back to the distant ships, wishing he could see exactly what was going on, and hoping that his uncle was doing well in keeping Zhao from discovering his current location.

"I hope Aang and Sokka come soon," whispered Katara, more to herself.

------------------------------

Zhao's eyes narrowed as the two guards returned, but without Prince Zuko in their custody.

"Where is he?" he barked.

"We searched the entire ship, sir. He's not on board."

"But," the other solider piped up, "we did find this in his quarters," he said as he held out a very familiar blue mask for Zhao to see. The biggest grin spread across his face.

"Oh, this is grand. Just grand," he said as he took the mask and examined it with pleased eyes. He turned to Iroh and held the blue mask up for him to see. "So, Prince Zuko is the Blue Spirit? I take it you knew about this? Or perhaps you put him up to it?"

Iroh blinked in utter confusion. He remembered seeing wanted posters with a description of a mysterious man in a blue mask that had been said to have snuck into a Fire Nation fortress and escaped with the Avatar. Now discovering that it had been his own nephew left him shocked, and even impressed. But now that he thought about it, he was actually surprised he had not guessed that it had been Zuko in the first place.

"Well, if Zuko was not going to die before, he's certainly going to die now," said Zhao as he formed a small flame in his hand and set the mask on fire. Dropping it to the deck, he watched it burn with satisfaction. "There, you see, General Iroh? _Now _he has a good reason to be put to death. Where is he?" he asked again, not taking his eyes off the blazing mask.

"I already told you."

"You're a good soldier, General, but a terrible liar. Now I'll ask you again. Where is he? I'm sure he didn't just jump overboard." Zhao strolled over to the railing of the ship, glancing over the side into the ocean. His eyes scanned the surface of the water until they settled on the outline of the island. "Or maybe he did." He turned to Iroh again. "This will be easy. Like killing a cornered rat."

Iroh let out a loud yell as he shot a stream of fire towards the Admiral, who had been expecting a sudden attack and stepped aside. He wagged his finger from side to side as he clicked his tongue several times. "Now, now, Iroh, I wouldn't want to have to place you under arrest. I have the authority to do that. So I suggest you let me follow my orders. I promise, I'll make it quick so he doesn't feel a thing. And don't even think of trying to sneak over there to rescue him. I'll be in search of him while the rest of my fleet stays behind to make sure _you _stay behind as well."

"You're going to regret this," said Iroh, not knowing of anything else to say that could possibly earn an ounce of fear out of the Admiral. Zhao merely laughed and instructed his soldiers to follow him back up to his ship, leaving the crew to watch helplessly.

Iroh watched with despair as the large ship began its decent towards the island. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Zuko still stood a fighting chance on that island as long as he stayed _hidden_, but despite the island's size, it was still just an island. He and Katara couldn't stay hidden forever. Their lives now rested in the hands of the Avatar, who was now everybody's hope.

------------------------------

"Oh, no," said Katara with wide, fearful eyes. Zuko, who had been rested in the delicate grains of the sand, sat up, alarmed. He looked to Katara, and then followed her gaze out into the ocean where he now saw the fire navy ship creeping closer to the shores of the island. "What do we do?" Katara cried.

Zuko stood and grabbed her arm again roughly. "We hide! What do you think we should do?" he yelled angrily as he pulled the girl along behind him.

"They're going to find us!"

"Just shut your thin-lipped little mouth and come on!" Zuko screamed, giving Katara's arm a painful tug.

"Just drag me why don't you!" Katara yelled back.

"I will if you don't hurry and keep up!"

Katara decided this was definitely not the time to argue and so she forced herself to keep her mouth shut and tried as best as she could to keep up with Zuko's pace as he continued to pull her along.

Their surroundings grew darker as they journeyed into the depths of the island's forest.

TBC…

**A/N: **I now have fanart dedications! In my profile I have a link to a fanart created by one of my loyal reviewers, Sannac if anyone is interested in viewing. I never expected someone would want to do fanart for this story! Thanks again, Sannac!

**A/N2: **Ok, more fic ranting here. Yeah, I keep reading over this story and just gag at the majority of the chapters. I've been thinking of ways to revise each chapter, but I never come up with much except for maybe a few ways to add more detail.


	13. Say My Name

_Chapter XIII_

**Say My Name**

The temperature continued to drop as the night aged, but neither Zuko nor Katara paid much attention to the cold air that swept across their tired features as they continued fleeing through the forest, their breathing in equal rhythm as they trudged on through the dead leaves and mud. Zuko certainly hated this more than Katara for sure, for now he had become the hunted, and this weighed down on his battered ego. He took a moment to glance back at Katara, who continued to follow behind him. He quickly saw just how out of breath she was.

"Please. We….have…to….stop," she breathed out between gasps, grasping Zuko's vest for support as her legs threatened to give way beneath her.

Zuko opened his mouth to protest but figured it be best if they _did _stop for just a moment to catch their breath.

They gradually came to a halt and practically collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. They leaned against a couple of welcoming tree trunks for support. The darkness that enveloped the forest gave them a sense of security, but their fear still did not lift entirely. They listened closely to every distinctive sound of the forest, trying to make out any possible sounds of approaching footsteps. They had been running for nearly ten minutes, which truly was not a great amount of time, but seemed like an eternity to them when they had already swam nonstop to the island.

Katara turned to Zuko, who was still breathing heavily and unevenly.

"What if they capture us?"

"Will you please shut up?" the Prince mumbled, almost pleadingly. Surprisingly, Katara did not express any hints of anger or bother to spit a witty retort. Perhaps the fear that was currently consuming her was too much to surpass.

"But, if he captures us, then we'll have absolutely no hope of escaping. Zhao has too much power."

"True, but it's brains over power. Remember that."

Katara forced herself to smile, but her doubts still lingered.

------------------------------

Zhao watched the foamy waves caress the soft sand, slowly erasing the traces of a set of footprints that ventured up towards the forest. His eyes curiously traveled over a smaller set of footprints that ran along the larger set and he quickly realized that Zuko was not alone. "He's here alright." Zhao turned to his army of men, but then averted his eyes away from them and towards the group of archers that had followed him willingly from the ship. "Spread out and search the forest. Don't kill the traitor. Leave that part to me," Zhao added with a smirk. "If you should find him before me, use any means of ensnaring to subdue him until I arrive. Now go."

The archers did not so much as bat an eye as they readied their bows and spread out into the forest to hunt down their prey. Zhao beckoned his soldiers to follow after him into the forest, but not before muttering a bitter, "This shouldn't take long at all."

------------------------------

Katara had grown extremely paranoid. It became nearly impossible to relax for even a second without turning her head in the direction of every little noise she heard, always fearing the worst. Knowing that Zuko was with her provided some relief, but Zuko was still just one person, and despite his strength, even he could not take on Zhao and his men alone.

She turned to the firebender and saw that his head was slumped over and that he was on the verge of falling over completely. Katara shifted herself and stretched out her leg and kicked the Prince right below the knee.

"Ow!" Zuko screeched as his head shot back up. "You little- What was that for?" he asked as he rubbed his sore leg.

"You were asleep, you dolt. And don't yell," Katara hissed.

"You kick me in the leg and you expect me not to yell? And I wasn't sleeping, I was just resting my eyes."

Katara nearly laughed out loud. She decided not to mention the fact that his head hand been slumped over, though she was certain he already knew that. She knew he wasn't in the mood to look like even more of an idiot than he already did by saying he was just 'resting his eyes.' "There's no such thing," Katara said simply.

"There is so."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Oh this is ridiculous. Our lives are on the line here and we're sitting here arguing like children." Katara hauled herself to her feet, placing a hand against the tree as she noticed her legs were still a bit wobbly. She brushed a few stands of hair away from her face, which had come loose in the violent exertions of the waves. Turning to Zuko, she said, "Come on, we need to keep moving."

Zuko snorted. "Now _you're _telling _me _to keep moving," he said arrogantly as he, too, got to his feet, no longer wanting to tarry. "Well, since you've suddenly acquired this new "take charge" attitude, why don't you lead the way?"

"Fine, I will, you little-" the rest of Katara's insult came out as mumbled nonsense. She brushed past the Prince with a huff and started on her way, for a moment not even caring if Zuko pursued her or not. She only managed to make it three but a couple of yards when some sort of animal scurried out in front of her. Upon instinct, she let out a high-pitched scream and threw herself against Zuko's chest, who quickly slapped a hand over her mouth to silence her.

"You want to get us killed?" he hissed. He removed his hand from her mouth and listened closely to his surroundings. "You probably woke the dead."

"Well, I didn't know what that thing was. It just spooked me." Katara inhaled and exhaled deeply as she placed a hand over her equally frightened heart.

"It was probably just a fox or a rabbit. Get a grip."

"I'm perfectly gripped," Katara snapped.

Zuko simply smirked at the girl's arrogance, and then escorted himself to the front again to continue leading. "Let's get going." He grabbed Katara's hand, who complied and followed without putting up a fight. "We need to find a place to hide. We can't rely on running alone, and fighting certainly isn't an option."

Choosing not to fight was hard for Zuko, for he was never one to choose running over fighting. However, despite his stubbornness, he knew that trying to fight off a group of soldiers certainly was not probable. He could not risk being captured. Better to be wise than brave, no matter how much it kicked at his pride.

"Ow!"

The Prince rolled his eyes as he turned to face Katara. For whatever reason she had for crying out, he could not see since it was so dark. "What now?" he asked timidly.

"My leg, it's caught on something," Katara replied with a hint of pain in her voice and nodding towards her left leg. Zuko approached her and knelt down in front of her to better examine her leg. He quickly saw that her legging had been snagged by a thick briar bush and was now biting into her tender flesh.

"Alright, hold still." Zuko reached out and carefully began working each individual briar out of Katara's legging. It was a process that took a full three minutes, but once Katara's leg was free again she smiled at the firebender in gratitude. "Now try going at least five minutes without screaming if it's not too much trouble."

Katara's smile quickly faded. She followed after the Prince, glaring daggers into his back and fighting the urge to shove him into a tree. As her anger slowly settled she glanced over her shoulder continually, fearing that there was always someone hidden in the shadows, stalking them and waiting for the right moment to attack. Before she could turn to the front again she walked directly into Zuko who-- for some reason--stopped suddenly and appeared to be looking around curiously. "What is it?" Katara asked.

"Shh."

"What?"

"SHH!"

Zuko turned quietly and scanned the rest of what little bit of forest his vision could offer. He could not really detect exactly where he had heard the noise, but whatever it had been, it was very faint and could have only been heard by someone who was always highly alert to his or her surroundings. But after a moment of silence Zuko finally got the impression that it was probably just another animal of some sort trying to find its way through the forsaken woods.

Just as Zuko's mild calm began to return, another scream threw him into full awareness. He would have been annoyed at the girl for crying out yet again, but he knew from the sheer fright in her scream that this was no animal this time.

Turning towards Katara, he saw that an arrow had struck the sleeve of her tunic, snaring her to a large tree. He turned his attention away from the waterbender for a moment and towards the dark silhouettes of the trees that loomed overhead. So Zhao had brought with him the YuuYan archers? Perfect. Just perfect. They were in enough danger as it was when it was just Zhao and his men. It seemed as though the Admiral had actually gained a bit of knowledge since their last encounter.

Finding no one in the trees (though he knew they were there), he turned back to Katara, who he saw had pulled herself out of the arrow's grasp, but at the cost of a piece of her sleeve, which remained pinned to tree, still supported by the head of the arrow.

"Let's go! We have to move! NOW!" yelled Zuko frantically as he grabbed Katara by the wrist again. Poor girl, her wrists had to be pretty bruised at this point.

As the two teenagers finally realized the severity of the danger they were in, they found themselves running faster, suddenly forgetting the painful aches and throbs of their battered legs that had previously depleted their strength to continue on. No, they could no longer feel pain, exhaustion, or hunger. The only thing they could acknowledge was that their very lives were in danger, and the only thing they could do to ensure survival was run.

They tore through the forest, ducking low branches and tripping over loose tree roots but they did not cease running. There was no destination to their fleeing but at that point it did not really matter. But they couldn't run forever.

Zuko suddenly felt a heavy, rough weight wrap itself around him and bring him down to the ground forcefully. It took him no more than a second to realize that it was a net.

"Zuko!" Katara cried as she came to a halt. She started towards the Prince when he shook his head violently.

"No, just keep going! I'll catch up!"

"But-"

"It's not worth being captured! Now go!"

Katara only hesitated but a second before she tore off through the forest again, leaving Zuko to deal with the heavy net that weighed down on him. He tired to reach out to pull the arrows which held the net in place from the ground but the net was pressing so hard against him he was practically pinned on his stomach, and aside from that, his arms were tangled up in the painful ropes, which were tearing into his skin and drawing blood.

Deciding to risk more pain--there was no other way to free himself--he managed to concentrate a small flame at the tip of his finger, which quickly began feeding on the fibers of the net. The flames grew in strength and soon the majority of the net was aflame. Zuko ignored the flames licking at his bare skin and managed to tear through the net at its weakening points.

Zuko now stood freely again, feeling the darkened remains of the net slip from his shoulders. He looked up towards the trees with a sinister glare, knowing that his hunters were up there, watching him. He had been part of the "cat and mouse" game for months, but not once had he imagined himself as ever being the mouse. The tables had turned alright, and Zuko was getting a bitter taste of what the Avatar had to put up with.

He took off in a dead run again, wanting to catch up with Katara before she got too far ahead. The archers could have been spread out all around them. Katara could already be captured. This thought granted him more strength to run faster. But then he suddenly grew curious as to why he had become so concerned about the girl.

'_You like her, that's why!'_

'_I do NOT like her! I just need her in order to capture the Avatar. I could care less what happens to her after that.'_

'_If you didn't care about her then you wouldn't have given her necklace back. Nor would you have apologized for acting like a prick.'_

'_SHUT UP!'_

WHAM!

Zuko suddenly found himself on the ground yet again after colliding dead on with a soft weight. Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he looked over to see a blue heap lying on the ground, softly moaning in pain. "I thought I told you to run. Why didn't you listen? Do you _ever _listen?"

Katara sat up, shooting the Prince a glare as she rubbed her sore back which had slammed into a stone when she had fallen over. "I was coming back for you, you ungrateful jerk! I thought they captured you!" she hissed.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Do I look like I'm captured?" he asked as he extended his arms and pointed towards himself. Katara only turned her head away, sending her scowl towards the base of a tree. "Just forget it. Come on, they could be all around us."

Katara stood and started after the firebender. "Who's 'they'?" she called to the Prince.

"The YuuYan archers. Ever hear of them?"

"No."

"Their skills in archery are legendary. No target standing within two hundred yards of their range has ever been known to escape them. Their skills have been used in bounties, homicidal missions, and for security. They've been known to pin a fly to a tree from a hundred yards away…without killing it."

Katara's eyes widened in response to the last statement. "And so now Zhao's got them after us."

"Looks like it."

"And they never miss?"

"No."

Katara felt the blood drain from her face and she suddenly forced herself to run faster. Her hope began diminishing. What if they never made it off this island alive? What if she never saw Sokka or Aang again? What if she never saw her father again? She unknowingly let out a choked sob, which the Prince had heard.

"Hey, don't start your blubbering. We don't have time for that."

Katara was ready to spit another insult but just as she began to open her mouth she heard Zuko give a loud, pained shrill and watched in stunned silence as he fell to his knees, clutching his left arm. She ran up to him in alarm and saw a dark, shimmering liquid, only visible by the light the moon provided, oozing from between his fingers. Looking a little ways ahead of them, she saw another arrow lodged in a tree. She furrowed her brow. "I thought you said they never miss," she said as she settled her eyes on the firebender again.

"They only miss if it's intentional," Zuko gasped out as he bit his bottom lip in pain. "They did that on purpose, you see. To slow us down." Zuko looked down at his bloody hand, and then placed it back against the deep gash, hoping to slow down the heavy flow of blood.

"Are you alright?"

"Just peachy," he mumbled. "You better get in front of me." He pushed Katara forward urgently, who began running again, glancing fearfully behind her at Zuko, afraid that he would pass out at any given moment from loss of blood.

They saw with relief that the trees were beginning to thin out. However, this did not completely pose as a full proof advantage for them. True, less trees would certainly make it harder for the archers to snare them and it was a known fact that they used the trees to stalk and target their "prey", but it was certain they had other means of capture.

Their relief was cut short as the two teenagers found themselves upon a slope, which slowed their running down profoundly. The slope was not terribly steep, but it was unfortunate for Zuko and Katara for they had been running for nearly half an hour, and even the smallest bit of unleveled land was like climbing a mountain to them, but even so, they forced themselves to climb it. During that time, the thoughts of Zhao and the YuuYan archers had evaded their minds, and desperation to reach the top of the slope replaced it.

"We're almost there," said Katara hoarsely.

As they finally reached the top of the slope they were relieved to find themselves on leveled ground again. They picked themselves up hastily, and forced themselves to keep running, ignoring the searing pains they felt in their legs and pretty much every other muscle in their body. Katara remained ahead, while Zuko staggered behind, ignoring the screaming, excruciating pain in his arm. But his attention was quickly brought away from the pain in his arm as he heard Katara give a sudden yell of surprise. Curious as to why she had suddenly stopped running, he forced himself to quicken his pace. As he came to stand beside her he saw with horror why she had yelled out.

If she had taken just one more step she would have tumbled over the side of a cliff.

"Woah," she whispered, still breathing heavily with a hand placed over her heart. "That was too close." She looked back at Zuko, who had already lit a small flame in his palm to get a better view of the cliff's edge. Peering over the side, he could only see the drop off go on for about eight feet before the rest of his view was swallowed by darkness. Though he could not see any farther than eight feet, he could still hear the roaring sound of waves crashing against the cliff's base. As he listened carefully to the sound of the waves, he was able to determine that it was at least a sixty foot drop, maybe a little less. As he moved his ignited hand along the cliff's edge he then saw that they were actually standing on a strip of rock that jutted out from the cliff and out into the ocean, and was frighteningly only about fifteen feet wide. Katara saw this as well.

"What if we…what if we ran-"

"I don't even want to think about it," said the Prince, exhaling in relief. "Let's head down that way," he said, pointing to the right. Just as they both began to take off again they saw with surprise that the archers had already lined themselves up in front of the narrow pathway, bows at the ready and blocking their way of escape. "Great."

"Lower your weapons."

Both Zuko and Katara turned their heads sharply at the sound of the familiar voice, which appeared to have come from the left. There they saw Zhao, approaching with his eyes strictly focused on them, and soldiers flanking his sides. The archers stood aside, and the man walked proudly across the strip of rock, arms behind his back and looking very pleased to say the least.

"You think you can outrun me forever, Prince Zuko?"

"Couldn't stand the fact that I got the better of you again, Admiral Zhao?"

Zhao's smirk never fell. He took a taunting step forward and passed a quick glance at Katara, flashing her a grin. "Well, so you _did _take the little Water Tribe wench? Think she'd be perfect to lure the Avatar into your grasp, I see. Well, Prince Zuko, I'll admit that's pretty clever, even for you."

"I see flattery isn't one of your strong points, Zhao. Come for a little revenge?"

Zhao's smirk only grew. "Indeed. I'll admit, I believed you when you told me you had the Avatar. That was a mistake on my part, and I'm sure you got a good laugh out of it, but I'm about to have the last laugh."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Look, Zhao, I'd love more than anything to stand here all night and listen to your almost-witty repartee, but if you came here looking for a fight, then can we just get it over with?"

"Oh, I didn't exactly come looking for a fight. But before we get down to business, why don't you hand over that Water peasant?"

"I don't think so," said Zuko sternly as he stepped in front of Katara.

"Oh, how sweet. You've grown fond of the little peasant, haven't you? Well, I'm deeply sorry, Prince Zuko, but that girl is a valuable asset."

"I'm no one's asset, you sick moron!" Katara shouted as she stepped out from behind Zuko.

"Oh my, such a fiery temper. Much like your mother's."

Katara felt the blood drain from her face, and an icy chill run down her spine. How in the world did this man know her mother? "Y-You knew m-my mother?" she stuttered.

"Well, I didn't know her per se. But she was a lovely woman. You look very much like her, in fact. But that mouth of hers. You wouldn't believe the words that came out of it: 'bastard', 'monster', 'scum', I tell you, such a _foul_ mouth. Someone had to shut it up."

At this point, Katara felt close to fainting. Her surroundings became blurred and the air around her devastatingly cold. She could no longer feel Zuko standing beside her, nor could she see Zhao standing directly in front of her as the memories came racing back so fast that she nearly fell over in shock.

With a flash, she saw a tall, threatening-looking man walking away from a limp, battered and burned body, which she had soon discovered with horror was her mother. She had only gotten a quick glance of the man's face as he turned around to give her one sick, almost innocent-looking smile before being swallowed by the mass sea of converging fire and water as the battle raged on through her village.

She then knew why he had looked so familiar to her when she had seen him in the temple.

"You…You killed her. You killed her! YOU KILLED MY MOTHER! YOU MONSTER!" Katara charged forward, set on killing this man--this murderer, but suddenly felt two, strong hands take hold of her arms and hold her back.

"Let me go! Let me go NOW!"

"Stop it! Don't!" yelled Zuko, tightening his grip on Katara's arm.

"Go ahead, Prince Zuko, let her go. I'd like to see what she can do."

"Shut up." Zuko wrapped an arm around Katara's waist to get a better hold on her as he was beginning to lose his grip on her arms. She wanted this man dead, and he did not blame her one bit and almost wished he could just let her go, but he knew she could not possibly take him down alone. He winced as she clawed at his arm in an attempt to release herself but the Prince did not loosen his hold, despite the pain.

"Captain, subdue the traitor until I have the girl in my custody."

"Over my dead body," said Zuko threateningly as he once again forced Katara behind him, who at this point, was in tears.

"Oh, so you've already figured out the other part of my plan then? You see, _Your Grace, _your very existence is a heavy burden on your father, so he has asked that I put you to death."

Zuko paled slightly, but kept his head high and refrained from expressing any hint of fear or belief to Zhao's words. He was positive it was all just some vile trick. Zhao had always been an exaggerator. Not to mention a pathological liar.

"If my father had wanted me dead he would have had me killed on the spot instead of sending me out to capture the Avatar. He wants me back."

Zhao threw his head back and laughed.

"You stupid child! Are you really that naïve? Your father had actually been hoping that _you'd _take the pleasure in taking your own life. This entire pursuit was what he liked to call an "eternal lesson". I tried to tell you, Prince Zuko, but once again, you fail to listen. Although, I'm personally glad you didn't kill yourself. Otherwise I wouldn't have had the pleasure of doing it myself."

"You're lying." Zuko's voice was quiet, almost lifeless.

"Oh, trust me, Zuko, I would never lie about something like this."

Zuko now felt light-headed, and his blood running cold. He felt as though he were standing on the tallest mountain in the world, and there was no way on earth anyone would hear or care if he screamed. He tried desperately to swallow the lump that had somehow formed in his throat. He averted his gaze away from the cruel man in front of him and looked on at nothing. He _saw _nothing; he felt nothing; he was numb. The wind, which had previously been whispering through the trees suddenly stopped, and so the trees pursued them, and stilled as well. Zuko could no longer hear the roaring ocean beneath him, nor could he feel Katara's cold hand on his arm. He brushed away a single strand of ebony hair which had been stuck to his chapped, bottom lip.

It had all been for nothing. The long, gruesome years of searching, the tiresome mornings of almost nonstop training, the quiet nights of meditation--they had all been for nothing. Nearly three years he had spent in high hopes of returning home and into his father's loving, welcoming arms. He had dreamed of seeing the people of his nation smiling and welcoming home their future ruler. But it had all been a lost cause. The very moment he set sail out to sea and away from his homeland that day, he was never going back, and his own father had decided that years ago.

His senses slowly began returning to him, but the shock and dull anger was still there. Looking down at Katara, who was looking up at him with concern, he parted his lips and tried as hard as he could to say something, but he could not find his voice. "Subdue him, now," Zhao repeated.

Zuko's eyes left Katara for a split second to glance at the tall, hard-faced Captain advancing towards him. He looked down at Katara, whose reddened eyes looked back up at him hopelessly. Zuko then shot a desperate glance at the edge of the cliff and smiled, seeing the extreme situational irony they were in. He looked back at Katara, whose eyes widened when she realized what he was implying.

"We can't!" she yelled, looking fearfully towards the cliff's edge.

"It's our only chance!" he shouted as he picked up Katara hastily and threw themselves over the edge of the cliff, and plummeted into darkness.

It took a moment for Zhao to overcome his shock of what he had just witnessed. He raced to the edge of the cliff and peered over the side but could see nothing except for the heavy darkness that had consumed the two teens. It was not for certain if they could have survived such a fall. Even hitting water itself was enough to kill a human being if they hit it hard enough.

The Captain came to stand beside the troubled Admiral, looking down astonishingly into the darkened drop off. "Do you think they survived?" he asked. He stole a glance at the other man from the corner of his eye.

"I can't be certain. Report back to the ship and take a boat out to search the water. If they indeed survived then they should be making their way to shore at this moment. I'll continue the search on land. Go."

"Yes, sir."

**------------------------------**

Katara clung desperately to the Prince's neck as they continued to plummet. She shut her eyes and prayed to the spirits that what lay awaiting them below was just water and not jagged rocks. She buried her face into the crook of Zuko's neck and awaited to be claimed by her element.

Hitting the ocean's surface was like hitting land itself at the speed they were going. Katara felt herself slip from Zuko's grasp and she opened her eyes to see him, but saw nothing, absolutely nothing. She reached out her hand desperately in attempt to find the Prince but could feel nothing except the tickling sensation of bubbles flowing against her skin. Panic sinking in, she began kicking her legs wildly and fought her way to the surface, or in the direction she hoped would lead to the surface.

As she felt the cool night air caress her skin she inhaled deeply until her lungs were satisfied. "Zu-" she coughed loudly and spat out a mouth full of water. "Zuko! Zuko, where are you?"

"Over here!"

"Where?"

"Here!" Katara jumped as she felt a firm hand grasp her shoulder. "We need to get to shore right now. Zhao's not going to waste any time standing around."

They let the waves carry them into shore to save a small portion of their remaining energy, and then dragged their exhausted, bruised bodies onto dry land. Katara collapsed onto the sand and rolled over onto her back, too exhausted to move another inch even if her life depended on it.

"Hey, get up! We don't have time to rest. Get up!" Katara whimpered as Zuko grabbed her by her arm and hauled her up to her feet. As he dragged her along up the shore and into the woods he took a moment to glance back at her. As he took note of her tired features his expression softened. "Look, I know you're tired. I am, too but we have to get as far ahead of Zhao as we can."

Katara only nodded; she did not have the strength to argue, and knew that he was right anyway. She stared blankly at the back of his head as she forced herself to keep up with his pace. She wondered what kind of thoughts were currently running through his mind. Sleep? Death? These were certainly the thoughts that were seesawing in her own mind at the moment. Of course she was more concerned about actually sleeping than she was about dying. She didn't even have the energy to fully fear anything right now.

"Look, up ahead. There's a cave we can take shelter in," said Zuko as he pointed about twenty feet ahead of him. Katara nearly sobbed in relief as those beautiful words graced her ears. All she wanted now was to collapse onto welcoming floor of the cave and sleep forever, no matter how cold or hard it may be.

As they reached the mouth of the cave Zuko held out his arm to stop Katara from proceeding inside and lit a flame in his palm before he entered himself. He beckoned for Katara to follow and asked her to stay close. He knew platypus bears hibernated around this time, and knew they feared fire more than anything.

The tunnel of the cave extended a good fifteen feet before it rounded off to the left and ended about twenty feet ahead. No, it definitely wasn't a big cave, but it provided shelter and even warmth as a result of its small size. And best of all, no platypus bears.

"We better get some firewood," said Katara tiredly. She turned on her heels and prepared to leave but Zuko stepped in front of her.

"No, you stay here. I'll get the firewood," he said calmly.

"I'll be fine. I'll only be gone a minute," Katara protested and tried to brush past him but he again stepped in front of her.

"You'd be surprised how much can happen in a minute. Now just stay here."

Katara glared at the Prince's retreating form as he left the cave hastily to retrieve the firewood. "Why don't you just come right out and say I can't take care of myself?" she grumbled to herself and walked back into the safety of the cave to hunker down. The minutes rolled by slowly.

"_Sokka, take your sister and take cover!"_

Katara shut her eyes tightly, drawing her knees up to her chin. The tears came again, but she didn't even lift a finger to stop them.

"_But Mama-"_

"_Go with your brother, darling."_

She remembered how brave her mother had been. She had fought to protect her village, her people, her family, and had died for it. Why? Why her mother?

"_Mama! Mama! Please, d-don't leave me!"_

Katara let out a strangled cry and wrapped her arms around herself. She let a few quiet sobs escape her trembling lips as she rocked herself back and forth, remembering how her mother would always rock her back and forth after a terrible nightmare. She lifted a hand and felt for the only source of comfort she had, the only memory of her mother that provided her with strength and a sense of security.

Upon hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, Katara shrank back into the comforting darkness of the stomach of the cave, burying her face in between her knees in hopes of staying hidden. Whether or not whoever was approaching was Zuko, she did not know and did not care, she just didn't want to be seen by anyone right now.

------------------------------

Soft sobs, and little sniffles. This was what Zuko heard upon reentering the cave as he carried an arm's load of small broken tree branches. He didn't even have to think twice about the reasons for the waterbender's despair. He couldn't blame her. A part of him wished he hadn't held Katara back. He had wanted to see Zhao torn limb from limb. Agni knew he deserved it.

He suddenly heard a distressed whimper and a sudden shuffling noise. He walked a little closer to where the cave rounded and stopped. The cave had grown silent, as if no one but himself were in it.

"Go away," he heard a petite voice say. He took a step towards the voice and heard more shuffling. "I said go away." Perhaps she didn't know it was him.

"It's me. I brought the firewood."

"Just leave me alone," said the exhausted voice. Zuko heaved a sigh and placed the wood down on the ground, quickly lighting it. As the fire bathed its light across the cold ground and towering walls Zuko took the opportunity to glance at the waterbender, who was sitting a good distance away from him with her legs drawn close to her chest. Her eyes locked with his for only a moment before she quickly whipped her head away from him to stare off into the darkness where the light of the fire could not extend.

"Look, I'm…I'm sorry about…well, back there." Zuko winced at the sound of his own words. '_Is that the best you can do?'_

He looked up to see Katara's reaction, but saw that she had not turned to meet his gaze. He sighed again and leaned back, feeling it best if he just leave the girl to herself and not bring about any more possible discomfort than she was already feeling.

------------------------------

Katara knew he didn't know how to speak in a comforting manner, but the fact that he had tried made her stomach flutter. The truth of the matter was that he cared, if just a little bit.

She heard him sigh and shift a bit, but she held her gaze to the darkness, not ready to face him yet for her tears had not yet subsided and she did not want him to see her in so much despair. She knew he would not judge her, but it still bothered her, and it wasn't just about letting Zuko see her cry; she hated for anyone to see her cry.

But then a thought suddenly crossed Katara's mind.

"What if they find us in here? I mean, if they happen to come across this cave you know they wouldn't even think about passing it up on the off chance that we'd be in here."

"I had already thought of that," Zuko replied firmly as he stood up.

"Wait, where're you going?"

"You stay here. I'm going to lead him as far away from here as I can."

"What? Are you out of your mind? No, wait! You can't leave me here by myself!"

"You'll be safer here."

"But he's after me, too remember?"

"Yes, but he doesn't want you dead, he wants you alive. But after he has the Avatar there's no telling what he might do to you."

"Oh that's right, I forgot. _You _need me in order to capture Aang. I mean, that's why you captured me to begin with, isn't it?"

"Are you really that dense? Did you not hear what Zhao just said? My father wants me dead! My whole country is against me! It doesn't matter anymore whether or not I capture the Avatar. It'd be pointless to continue with my mission. It's been pointless from the start! And the sad part is I somehow knew this was going to happen all along BUT I WAS TOO BUSY LIVING IN DENIAL TO EVEN CONVINCE MYSELF!"

Katara flinched as if she had been slapped. She wanted to look away from him, but his pain-stricken eyes held her gaze firmly, but she couldn't hide her fear from him, and he saw this very quickly.

"Sorry," he said sincerely, then turned to make his leave.

"Wait!"

"What?" Zuko asked flatly.

Katara took a step towards the Prince. "If the Avatar no longer matters to you, then why do you care if I'm captured?" She waited for his answer, but never received one. She saw him try to make his leave again but she stopped him. "Look, I'm going with you whether you like it or-"

"No, Katara!"

The sound of her name falling from his lips made her take a step back. She suddenly realized that that was actually the first time Zuko had said her name ever since he had captured her, and oddly enough, she wished he'd say it again.

She watched as he turned around completely and met her gaze. His expression was firm, but his eyes were soft, even scared. "He's not going to capture you until he knows I'm dead. I'll put him on the run after me long enough to lead him away from here, and once I'm pretty sure I've lost him I'll come back."

"But what if you get lost? What if he kills you?" Katara shouted frantically. She was on the verge of hysterics. "What if you- If they- If I- I…" Katara suddenly put her hand to her mouth as she tried to maintain herself.

"That's not going to happen, alright? I know how to take care of myself. I'm coming back. That's a promise."

Katara wanted to protest, but had no idea of what she could say that would persuade the Prince to stay. Sighing, she glanced up at him, and at that moment, sapphire met amber in a way they never had before, and it took her a moment to realize that she was drawing closer to the Prince, as he was to her. Their faces moved closer and closer still until only an inch separated their parted lips from touching. As Katara moved in to close the gap, Zuko suddenly drew back before the contact could be made.

"I h-have to go," he stuttered, obviously shocked by what had almost happened. He shot Katara one last apologetic glance and left hastily before anymore words could be said.

Katara could only watch. She had no voice to call out to him, and even if she did, she knew there was nothing she could say that would stop him, so she sadly watched him leave until the darkness of the forest swallowed him. She wrapped her arms around herself and retreated back into the cave. She settled herself down around the fire, which had been provided just moments ago by the very person who she had almost kissed, the very person she was falling for.

The comforting warmth of her captor's element brought a smile to her face. She didn't feel so alone anymore; a part of him was still with her.

TBC…

This chapter is dedicated to **Lady Windsong **who hit 300 reviews!

**A/N: **I now have a lovely new fanvid up in my profile. "All About Us" is the title. It's a Zuko and Iroh centered video, so I hope you all enjoy. Feedback would be great, but don't upload the video to your YouTube account without my permission. I've seen this happen a couple of times and it doesn't make me very happy.

**A/N2: **Well, after nearly 3 months and a whomping 73 reviews, I've finally updated. This chapter would have been out sooner but unfortunately my laptop obtained a virus and so had to be reinstalled. And of course I ended up losing all of chapter 13, which was complete and ready to be published. I actually didn't have internet for an entire week so it was really rough, and I had to check reviews in my Computer Tech class. Unfortunately, I couldn't reply to any of my anonymous reviews, which has brought me to ask if anonymous people could please leave an e-mail address that way I can tell you what's going on if something like this ever happens again. Or, if you're not comfortable with that then please just visit my Livejournal every now and then, which usually has an update on the story's progress. You can access my journal by going into my profile and clicking on my homepage. But there was actually a note at the top of my profile so you guys could have saved yourself a lot of panic if you had just clicked on my profile ;

But again, anonymous people, please don't review and ask what's going on and expect an answer when I can't even reply to the review or send you an e-mail. This really aggravates me. Please, people, if you want explanations, leave some sort of source for contact. Email, screen name, anything. Over the last few weeks I've gotten review after review asking why I hadn't updated and wanted to know what was going on but there was no way I could explain myself. And another thing, my life doesn't revolve around this story. I don't spend every day of my life coming up with new ideas for it and spend countless hours typing each chapter on the computer. I'd burn out all my creativity if I did that.


	14. Knocking On Death's Door

_Chapter XIV_

**Knocking On Death's Door**

Even in somewhat tense situations, a clear, cool night would bring the retired General comfort and a sense of tranquility, but not this night. He paced the deck of the motionless ship, tension rising by every passing minute. He could do nothing as his nephew was over on that dark island, running and fighting for his life.

A hot trail of steam vented angrily from Iroh's nostrils as he gripped the railing with a sudden burst of fury. "Maybe we _should _have tried to outrun them," he whispered to himself, but still audible enough for Lieutenant Jee to hear

"Sir, you and I both know we couldn't have done that. Like you said, this ship could never outrun one of those advanced war vessels. Admiral Zhao would have most likely fired at will and brought this ship down. Then we'd all be on that island."

"Yes, yes," agreed Iroh, lowering his head and casting his gaze to the choppy water that gently lapped against the hull of the vessel.

"I'm sure he's fine, sir. You-"

"Taught him well, I know." Iroh tiredly rubbed the multiple creases in his forehead, which had been produced as a result of his extreme worry. His eyes scanned the larger ships that circled the small, ensnared vessel that he stood upon. He flinched slightly as he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder.

"Perhaps you should go inside to rest," said Jee. "There's nothing more we can do."

"I know that. I also know that I'm not going to be able to get any sleep until I know they're safe."

Jee chewed on his bottom lip, and said with a dulcet tone, "Perhaps some tea instead?"

Iroh smiled softly. "Now that I can do."

------------------------------

Katara's mentioning of getting lost suddenly crossed Zuko's mind as he slowly trudged through the forest. This was a large island after all, and the idea was to lead Zhao away from the cave and somehow find his way back without Zhao being able to follow. But it was dark, and he would probably end up having to go a long way before they could be completely safe from Zhao the rest of the night, which was another good nine hours. This wasn't going to be easy, if at all capable of being done.

His thoughts traveled back to that moment when his lips almost touched Katara's. His heart raced a mile a minute as he replayed the image in his head with uncertainty. He had almost kissed her. _She _had almost kissed _him. _What was happening? How was this happening? This girl was supposed to be his enemy, but yet she understood him when no one else ever did. She had learned of his past and saw a clear view of where he was coming from. He had talked to him like a human being, despite his heritage. She cared. She actually, surprisingly cared.

His head shot up as he heard distant voices cutting into the seemingly perpetual silence. Acting quickly, he broke off to the right and moved from tree to tree, being careful as not to step on any twigs, but avoided the dead leaves was next to impossible. He winced every time they crunched under his heavy weight.

"They couldn't have gotten far," he heard Zhao's voice say angrily from a distance. Zuko pressed himself against a tree and slowly peaked his head around to see, but the darkness that continued to hold him and the forest in its grasp blockaded his view from extending any further than twenty feet. As he glanced downward his eyes scanned across several jagged stones that littered the blanket of dead leaves. An idea suddenly spawned in his head.

He knelt down and gathered up the stones, then headed in the direction of the voices. As he edged closer his vision was soon met with several balls of light that seemed to just float in mid air, but Zuko knew they were the lanterns the soldiers carried, and he saw that they were advancing towards him quickly. He turned away from the advancing light and completely faced his left side. Grasping one of the jagged stones in his hand tightly, he smirked, tossed the stone up once in the air and hurled it with all the strength he could muster. He heard it smack into a tree, producing a large thud, and then tumble down into the fragile leaves.

"Over there. Check over there!" he heard a soldier call out urgently. Zuko couldn't stifle an amused snort as he saw the floating firelight change coarse and head off in the direction of which the stone had been thrown.

"Morons," he whispered, and took off in the direction that they had been previously advancing from.

"Wait, I heard something back that way," he heard Zhao call out. Zuko cursed under his breath and leapt behind a tree quickly. He took hold of another stone and flung it ahead of him. "Over here!" Zuko squeezed his eyes shut and pressed himself as hard as he could against the tree as the large group of soldiers ran directly past him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he pushed himself off of the tree and carefully stepped around it, careful to avoid its exposed roots, while still keeping his attention on the soldiers who were disappearing from his view.

As he broke off into a run he brought his attention to the front, only to plow directly into Zhao, who reached out a hand and grasped the Prince by the throat, shoving him against the tree violently. "Think I'm that stupid?" he asked.

"P-Possibly," Zuko rasped.

A smirk tugged at the corner of the Admiral's lips. He leaned in closer to the younger firebender as he tightened his grip on his throat. "I've seen those tricks before, but I can't say I don't give you credit for trying. I can tell actual footsteps from a stone hitting the leaves."

"You m-must be so p-proud," came the Prince's mock reply. Zhao's eyes narrowed in response and he rammed Zuko's head against the tree, receiving a loud yelp of pain. This rewarded him with another satisfied smile from the older firebender.

"I wouldn't mock me if I were you. After all, I could make your death quick and painless. I could simply snap your neck and it'd be over with, but if you keep up that attitude of yours, I can make your death longer than winter itself."

"Your constant g-gab is longer than w-winter itself."

Zhao once again tightened his grasp on Zuko's neck, this time to the point where blacking out was surely going to be the next step, and Zuko was most definitely not in the mood to be killed while unconscious. He began clawing at Zhao's hand in a desperate attempt to break his hold, but to no avail. He winced as he smelt the smell of burning flesh and fought wildly. "Let go of me!" he screamed.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" A cold chill ran down Zuko's back spine as his own taunting words were used against him. He saw now that this was a matter of revenge as well.

Zhao pulled Zuko away from the tree and tossed him like a rag doll to the ground. He rolled up his sleeves and held out his arms for Zuko to see. "See this?" he asked, nodding towards his arms. "Thought you were going to get away with it, didn't you?" Zhao gave a swift kick to the Prince's stomach. "Where's the girl?"

Zuko managed to lift himself off the ground and turn over on his side. He kept his eyes fixed on Zhao, even after the soldiers returned and surround him, spears at the ready. "I lost her. After we hit the water I lost my grip on her. She's dead most likely."

Zuko's head jerked to the side as a hard blow was subjected to the left side of his face. Blood spewed from his mouth, sprinkling the dead leaves that lay beneath him. He lifted his hand and angrily wiped his bloody lips.

"You're lying right through your teeth, Zuko."

"Well it's not like I'd tell you anyway."

"No, I suppose not, but it's not going to matter. Once I've killed you, you won't be around to protect her."

Zuko laughed. "You know, that's the one thing that never changes about you, Zhao. You're nothing but talk."

Swinging his leg out, Zuko knocked Zhao's legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground with a loud grunt. He quickly took action and jumped to his feet as the numerous soldiers began to close in and attempt to seize his arms. Zuko bolted, pushing past advancing soldiers and ducking the swings of the sharp-edged swords that came a hair away from slicing his head clean off his shoulders.

Zhao looked from the retreating Prince to the looming trees above "Go after him now! Bring him down!"

------------------------------

Zuko felt blind as he zigzagged through the forest, bumping into trees and getting smacked in the face by low branches. He shuddered to think how he would look in the morning when the bruises were sure to show.

Placing his hand against a tree, he took a moment to catch his breath, but the sound of urgent footsteps and angry voices were still within earshot. He was more exhausted now than he had ever been in years, and it was ironic how at that very moment, he wanted nothing more than to collapse into the leaves that lay just beneath his feet and sleep forever. It was ironic because Zuko was always the one to deny sleep on a daily basis. Sleep was always last on his To-Do list.

As his breathing evened out, he started running again, trying to scope out somewhere he could hide temporarily. Another cave perhaps, or maybe even a hollowed out tree trunk, but no such luck. He reached up a hand to wipe his mouth again, as blood was still pouring from his busted lip. He could only imagine how he looked right now, and feared he was going to look twice as worse if he didn't get out of Zhao's range.

Zuko came to a halt as a dark figure fell from the trees and landed directly in his path. He turned to see if anyone was behind him, but did not see the glow of the lanterns, nor could he hear Zhao's obnoxious spouting.

Turning back to the darkened figure, Zuko inhaled deeply, conjuring up his breath of fire and preparing himself for defense. This was a skilled archer he was dealing with. He had to carefully watch his movements, for they rivaled those of a cat's; they were fast, and almost impossible to outwit or foresee.

He silenced his breathing and strained to hear the archer's movements. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple as he heard the faint sound of a string's elasticity conquering the force of an arrow as it was placed against it, preparing for its launch. Zuko silently gulped and took a quiet step to the side, but just as he began to make his move, the arrow was shot, and quickly embedded itself into the Prince's right shoulder. The force of the arrow knocked him back a few steps and finally to the ground. He let a painful wail escape his lips as the pain shot through his shoulder, through his chest and even down his back.

Zuko's vision began to blur, and he fought to keep awake, knowing that if he allowed himself to fall into unconsciousness, he'd never wake up. He angrily gripped the arrow and ripped it from his shoulder with a loud cry. Looking up, he saw several more figures looming over him. He moaned and shut his eyes. This was not going well at all.

"Very good," he heard a voice say, then some seconds later received a kick to his side, which sent him off his back and onto his right side. Opening his eyes to mere slits, Zuko rolled over and stood on his hands and knees, ignoring the brutal pain in his shoulder. "What's the matter? Can't stand?"

Zuko wasn't sure where his sudden burst of energy came from, but Zhao's taunting set him into a fit of rage and he charged him, both fists in flames, but Zhao was quick to grab both his wrists and turn him around to where he could firmly hold both hands behind his back. Zuko thrashed wildly.

"Don't struggle so much, you'll really aggravate that shoulder."

"SHUT UP! Let go of me!"

"As you wish." Zhao gave the younger firebender a hard shove, and he went tumbling to the ground face first. "You've humiliated me enough. I'm not just killing you to obey an order, I'm doing this for myself as well, and I've patiently waited for the opportunity to do it."

Zuko managed to stagger to his feet, still fighting an approaching unconsciousness. His fists ignited again and prepared to attempt a more robust charge, but suddenly felt a sharp, excruciating pain in his side so great it was enough to rival the horrible pain of fire gliding across his face. Looking down, his gaze was met with what looked to be a handle of a knife. The blade could not be seen, for the knife had been buried all the way to the hilt.

"An eye for an eye," Zhao removed the embedded knife with a cruel jerk, "right, Zuko?"

Zuko placed both hands over the large gash, lacing his fingers together. He watched with horrified eyes as rivers of blood squeezed from between his fingers and covered his hands completely. He swayed slightly, then finally fell to his knees, placing one hand on the ground to keep himself from falling over completely. He felt a tickling feeling in the back of his throat and suddenly gave a small cough, feeling the bitter, metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He could hear Zhao approaching him tauntingly slowly, and knew he only had a few moments of life left.

He had failed. He was about to die in cold blood, and worst of all, his promise to Katara was about to be shattered into a million pieces. She would have to fend for herself now, and there was no way she could fight Zhao alone. Zuko lowered his head in defeat, feeling his last bit of strength die away with his pride and once great title. It was hard to believe this was actually happening. Everything he had ever worked for was now meaningless. This was it, this was his fate.

Zhao was closer now--no more than a foot away. He could see him reaching out to him out of the corner of his eye. Zuko cast his gaze to the ground and prepared to shut his eyes as he awaited his death, but his eyes came upon the sight of the bloodied arrow that had been discarded just moments ago. As he felt Zhao grasp his topknot, Zuko reached out and grasped the arrow with a bloody hand. His head was jerked back and he felt the cold, steel blade of the knife press against his throat. Before the fatal cut could be made, Zuko lifted the arrow and plunged it into the older man's leg with a great deal of force.

Zhao unleashed a loud shrill and released his hold on Zuko, as well as dropping the knife. Biting his lip in pain, Zuko amazingly managed to get to his feet and run with as much speed his tired legs could give him. Of course even in the great amount of pain he was in, Zuko still could not pass up a good smirk in honor of Zhao's importune overconfidence which never failed to shine whenever they encountered each other.

The small band of Fire Nation soldiers were about to pursue the Prince but Zhao held up a hand. "No, let him go," he said between gritted teeth. He grasped the arrow tightly and yanked it from his thigh. "He won't last long. Let him suffer," he spat. "We'll report back to the ship to sleep. At dawn we'll search for his body."

"But what if he survives through the night?" asked a soldier. He watched with curious eyes as Zhao held the arrow up for him to see, then flinched as he snapped it in half and dropped it to the ground. Zhao didn't utter one word during the demonstration, knowing he made his point very clearly. He turned and started walking away, limping slightly.

------------------------------

He stumbled several times; the twin pains he felt in his shoulder and side were doing well to overpower him and slow him down. He would fall to his knees, sometimes collapse completely, but would lie on the ground only for a moment and then force himself to keep going.

If anyone had seen him walking ( 'wobbling' probably would have been the more appropriate term) it wouldn't be at all surprising for them to think he looked quite ridiculous: he had his right arm stretched across his abdomen with his hand pressed against the deep gash, while he had his left arm stretched across his torso with his other hand pressed against the smaller wound in his shoulder. And on top of all that, there was still the small gash he had received when the arrow had grazed his arm, as of which was still pouring blood.

Though Zhao hadn't managed to finish him off himself, the large amount of blood he was currently losing and had already lost would probably finish the job. There was no way he could go on much longer before his injuries finally killed him. He would need extreme medical attention, and they were on some forsaken island, with the closest medical attention hundreds of yards out into the ocean and completely blockaded by a circle of war ships. But maybe he could make it back to Katara before death finally decided to claim him. He had to at least see her one last time.

A soft breeze rustled the looming, compacted trees without ripping the deadened leaves from their resting places on the branches. Zuko shivered as the moving air ghosted his bare arms. He could feel fresh trails of blood oozing from his shoulder wound and trickling down his torso. He responded to this with a more violent shiver. His surroundings seemed to be darkening. He wondered vaguely if this was a hint that death was more near than he had expected. He pushed the thought aside and pressed onward, biting back the pain that continued to ensue.

His vision continued to blur off and on, which made it impossible to see added on with the darkness. As he lifted his foot and prepared to make another painful step he felt the ground disappear beneath him and couldn't stop himself as he fell head first into a deep ditch. He landed with a soft _swish _for he had landed in a thick pile of leaves. He turned over and looked up towards the canopy of the trees, sighing quietly. He didn't try to get up; he was so exhausted. He shut his eyes and lay still, replaying everything that had happened in his mind. He was thankful no one was around to hear his whimpers and moans.

Death seemed like a blissful experience to him now. What did he have to live for anyway? He had no home, no throne. It was probably pointless to even address him as 'Prince' still. He had no reason to keep going. Well, except for his uncle. He winced inwardly, hating to think of how his uncle would feel if he had found out his own nephew had given up trying. He owed it to his uncle to keep fighting. He had always been there for him, pushing him, encouraging him, and caring for him like a real father.

And then there was Katara. It was surprising how much respect she had shown him, despite their little tiffs. Their relationship had been built on a rocky foundation, and their attitudes towards one another were still a bit shaky, but they had still come to understand one another, and now Zuko was finally admitting to himself that he was indeed forming an attraction to her. He could easily admit it now; he was knocking on death's door. What did it matter? But there was still that promise he had made to her. He knew she was back there still, waiting patiently for his return.

After quietly thinking it over for a while, he finally made up his mind.

"You annoying little peasant," he said as he sat up slowly. "You'd better still be there." Zuko stood with a great deal of effort, feeling faint again. His first attempt to climb out of the ditch failed after he grabbed hold of a root that protruded from the muddy slope, which easily broke loose, sending him tumbling backwards. Grunting, he tried again, this time sinking his fingers into the mud but just kept sliding back down. It took him a good five tries before he finally managed to haul his tired, battered, but still heavy body out of the ditch.

Taking caution, Zuko felt for a stick he could use to feel the ground in front of him, just in case that wasn't the last ditch that wanted to inconvenience him.

Now it was just a matter of making it back to the cave before his countless injuries finally killed him.

------------------------------

Katara rubbed her hands together fiercely, but the friction only blessed her with a temporary warmth, so she held her hands out to the fire, knowing it would provide warmth for as long as her hands lingered there.

The night dragged on and the temperature dropped in unison with the night's age. Some of the cold managed to venture its way in, but the small fire fought it off triumphantly. Katara peaked around the corner of the cave and towards the darkened outside world, hoping to see Zuko returning to her like he had promised. It had been hours, and the Prince still wasn't back yet.

"I swear, Zuko, if you're not back by morning, I'm coming after you," Katara mumbled to herself. Her almost lifeless eyes fought a seemingly never ending battle against desired sleep. Several times her head would fall forward and she would quickly pull herself back up with a jerk. Wanting to avoid falling face first into the fire, she leaned back against the cold wall and shut her eyes for a moment, but then opened them again as her body had suddenly taken that as an invitation to grant her sleep. She had to stay awake, at least until Zuko returned. If he returned.

Katara shook her head at the thought of him not returning. No, he _would _return. He had promised her, and she knew well enough that Zuko was the kind of guy to keep his word. His stubbornness played well into that.

Little embers broke off on their own and fluttered toward the ceiling of the cave, quickly dying out and fading into nothing after ascending to a certain height. The fire itself was dying out also, but still provided warmth.

A scratching sound could be heard towards the front of the cave. Katara's ears hopefully perked up and she looked around the corner again, expecting to see Zuko, but only saw a little fox, scratching and sniffing at the ground. After it became aware of Katara's presence, it quickly darted off into the woods. Tears began welling in the waterbender's eyes again.

"Please be alright, please be alright," she whispered as she pulled her legs up to her chest. She gave a woeful sigh and placed her head between her knees. Sleep began to take hold of her again, but she had not the strength to fight it. She shut her eyes and surrendered herself to her body's will, but before she slipped into unconsciousness, her head shot up as she heard a low, painful moan. She peaked around the corner once again and saw a dark figure staggering into the cave. "Z-Zuko?"

"Yeah," the figure said very softly and hoarsely. Katara smiled from ear to ear and leapt to her feet. She ran towards the Prince and wrapped her arms around him, too overwhelmed with happiness to hear his loud painful grunt. "I thought you were dead."

"Me, too."

"What?" Katara looked up at Zuko questioningly.

"Nothing," he said. "I told I would come back, didn't I?"

Katara nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, stop complaining then."

"Why's your voice so hoarse?"

Zuko placed a hand against his raw neck. "Zhao got a hold of me, but it's nothing." Zuko heard Katara heave a heavy sigh. He wasn't sure whether it was from annoyance or relief, but she didn't push him for further detail.

"I almost fell asleep. I wanted to stay awake until you got back."

Zuko still couldn't grasp why this girl cared so much. "Well, you can sleep now." He heard Katara turn and walk back over towards the fire, which he saw had almost completely gone out now. Only a few bright embers lived on, crackling as they fed on the last bit of their organic fuel. Zuko followed Katara carefully, trying not to grunt as he made each tortuous step. Sitting down was twice as hard, but he managed. Of course now his bottom lip was probably almost completely chewed off at this point.

"Why'd you have to take so long? I thought something happened to you."

Zuko sighed. "I just got turned around a little. But I made it back, didn't I?" said the firebender arrogantly.

Katara just nodded again. It was actually a pleasure to hear his smart mouth again. She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. She was already so tired; Zuko didn't have the heart to tell her of his situation. It was not like anything could be done anyway. Having her worry even more for him was just pointless. He would stay awake until morning, and try to keep from perishing in the night. He shut his eyes and prayed to Agni to extend his life just a little bit longer.

Katara's breathing evened out no more than a minute after shutting her eyes, and Zuko knew she was fast asleep already. "You know, I really don't understand you," Zuko whispered weakly. The sleeping Katara did not respond.

Zuko leaned back against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to withhold his ravaged gasps of agony. He dreaded the dramatic events that dawn was sure to bring the both of them.

"I'm sorry, Katara."

TBC…

A little note regarding reviews:

**can u plez 4 the love of Agni & Ishbala update!im dieing here!**

**how come u nor AmericanIdol101 or kigen or any other of my most fav writers ever update!**

**your kill'n me here! i mean you haven't updated in like FOREVER! gr... i hate it when i can't read my favorite fics cuz the author doesn't update them. it's still a good fic tho.**

I appreciate reviews, really I do, and I fear I'm going to sound selfish when I say this, but the truth is, these kind of reviews annoy me. I don't appreciate being hounded over and over again by the same people to update a story, especially when I'm trying as hard as I can to get it typed up. My life doesn't revolve around this story, as I've already stated. I have other things in my life going on, like school. You know, the place kids are forced to go to everyday that takes up about 7 hours of their day? But school is drawing to a close, and maybe then I can focus more on this story, but until that time, don't expect a chapter every other day.

When you review like this, you make it seem like I've completely abandoned my story and forgotten about it. That's not true. I'd love to be one of those amazing authors who can spit out a chapter with brilliant detail in a matter of days, but I can't. Creativity is a slow process for me, and I have to put the chapter together carefully like a jigsaw puzzle so it doesn't look rushed and so that the pieces actually fit. I'm not going to blab out a chapter just to satisfy an impatient person. It's your choice, you can have a detailed, long, well-thought out chapter, or you can have a quick piece of shit chapter. It's up to you. /snark mode

**A/N: **Honestly, I don't know how every chapter ends up in a cliffhanger. I honestly don't intend for it to, but it just does. But Zuko's a lot of fun to torture :D -dodges flying projectiles-


	15. The Village of HongTu

_Chapter XV_

**The Village of Hong-Tu**

The calm night dragged on as if no morning was ever to come again. A good deal of time had passed since the exhausted firebender stumbled into the cave and hunkered down for a night of misery. He winced as Katara snuggled closer towards him, aggravating the wound on his left side. He bit his lip as he drew in a sharp breath, exhaling slowly as Katara finally stilled again and slept on.

Suddenly, Zuko's surroundings became so quiet that he could actually hear his thoughts echo within the cave. And it was at that point that he heard certain things that he didn't want to.

"_You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."_

Hearing the voices bestowing more pain upon his conscious, Zuko did something he hadn't done for many years: he started humming a lullaby his mother used to sing to him when he was little, hoping it would drown out the voices in his head.

"_You aren't wanted here." _

"_If your father really wanted you back, he would have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar. But in his eyes you are a failure, and a disgrace to the Fire Nation."_

Zuko hummed even louder, placing his hands over his ears as if the voices could be heard externally. Finally, he sighed in relief when the torturous voices eventually died away and tucked themselves away into the depths of his mind where they would hopefully remain, and eventually dissolve away. Only in situations like these did those voices ever render themselves to his pain and suffering, to remind him of how he had failed.

He felt weaker now more than ever.

------------------------------

Zhao sat down in front of the well-polished table, careful not to aggravate the tightly bandaged wound. He let a wave of anger pass before he lifted the kettle and poured a cup of freshly-made tea. He momentarily let the wisps of steam caress his face before he lifted the small cup to his lips and downed the hot liquid. After pouring another cup he set it aside and pulled the plate which consisted of fried eggs and congee. Cutting off a piece of egg, he placed it in his mouth and chewed aggressively. He smirked, thinking of how much he was going to enjoy delivering the banished Prince's body to the Fire Lord.

A knock at the door brought the man out of his pleasurable thoughts. "Come in," he said flatly, and the door opened apprehensively. "Ah, Captain Jiang."

"Good morning, sir," said Jiang as he stepped into the room and came to stand by the table, only taking a seat when Zhao gestured for him to.

"I think it's all paid off," said Zhao, finally breaking the silence. "Now the Avatar will be easier to obtain without that pompous failure of a Prince always popping up everywhere. It really was for the best. And I think Zuko needed to be put out of his misery anyway," the man added with a smirk and with no real sympathy in his voice, only malice coated with bitter happiness. "I think the nation would have soon fallen had he taken the throne, wouldn't you agree, Captain?" asked Zhao, suddenly becoming agitated by the other man's silence.

"Yes, sir," the man replied uneasily.

"Alright, what is it? I know you disturbed me for something. And it better be important."

"Well, I do, sir. And it _is_ important. Earlier I was looking over our coordinates and I came upon the island on the map."

"Oh?"

"Yes. It's Hong-Tu, sir."

Zhao cocked an eyebrow. "Hong-Tu. Why does that name sound familiar?" he said quietly to himself as he looked down at his own reflection in his tea.

"Well, sir," Jiang stood up and strolled towards the large map that hung brightly across the steel wall. He pointed to a four inch long strip of land that resided along the Earth Kingdom boundaries, "a village inhabits this island. It was held under siege for a month. It's said that this island is the supply line of many medicines and healing herbs that other nations have been known to use. The Fire Nation was cut off from their supplies, so we took matters into our own hands. This is what concerns me. What if Prince Zuko _did _survive? It's possible he could have stumbled into the village and received medical help, or still could if he survived the night."

Zhao looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, we'll just have to find out then, won't we? And I remember that village now. They held up well against our armies. But you know, I think it'd be a good idea to pay them a little visit. It's been a while since they've been acquainted with the Fire Nation. Six years, if I'm not mistaken." Zhao lifted the previously discarded cup to his lips and smiled into the hot, steamy liquid. "I'll send a search party into the woods for the body. And if he did survive, then it's nothing I can't handle. Whether or not he does receive medical attention, he shouldn't be that hard to bring down again. He'll still be weak, and in no condition to fight. But for now, let me finish my breakfast."

------------------------------

"Yes, it's Hong-Tu, I'm sure of it," said Iroh. "I'm surprised I didn't recognize it before. I remember now. The village of Hong-Tu was held under siege for a month, earning a strong and proud victory in the end." Iroh sighed. "This could either mean great advantages, or horrible consequences."

"You're thinking Prince Zuko and the girl found the village?" asked Jee.

"I'm not sure. A part of me is hoping he did, and another part hoping he didn't. Because if Zhao realizes that that's Hong-Tu Island, and he finds that village in the heart of it, I know he and his army won't hesitate to destroy it just for the sheer pleasure of it. And I'd hate to be responsible for the destruction of that village."

"But wouldn't the people in the village be hesitant about helping someone from the Fire Nation? I've heard that they had cut off supply shipments to the Fire Nation."

"Possibly. At least if he were by himself, but since Miss Katara is with him then I can't be so sure. I'm positive she's a very persuasive young lady," added Iroh with a smile, but it faded as quickly as it had come. His gaze grew a bit darker as he stared on at the large mass of land.

"What is it, sir?"

"I don't know. I've…I just have a very bad feeling all of a sudden."

------------------------------

The island was no longer just a dark, ominous mass, but a land of beauty and wonderment as the sun made its rise just over the calm, azure horizon. It awakened the great island with its warm light, which spread across the thick forest like a blanket of heat, sending the birds into their occasional songs and the animals out of their dens and burrows to scurry for their breakfast. But the sun had only just given birth to a new day, so the cold chill of the previous night still did not lift from the air.

A small ray of light creped into the cave, inching its way across the stone floor and finally reaching the back wall. Katara awoke minutes later to a kink in her neck. Pulling her head away from Zuko's shoulder, she rubbed her neck gently and looked up to discover the morning light leaking into the cave. She sighed. Now what was to happen? Were they to stay in the cave? Or leave? Where would they go from here?

Katara stood up slowly and walked around the corner towards the cave's entrance. It took a moment for the blood in her legs to start circulating properly again. As she stepped a foot out of the cave she was met with a breathtaking view of the forest. The trees carried a homely look to them since winter had just begun, but some trees stood with leaves perfectly intact. Some were multicolored and looked twice as beautiful with the little beads of dew that reflected the morning light superbly. The entire forest was bathed in the comforting light of dawn. It almost made Katara forget of the terrible predicament they were in, but once the thought reentered her mind, her temporary moment of prosperity quickly evaporated into an atmosphere of dread and hopelessness.

Katara's mouth opened in a heavy yawn, and she reached up a hand to place over her mouth as she stretched her other arm towards the pinkish sky. As she opened her eyes, upon lowering her hand, she was met with the sight of blood on the right sleeve of her tunic. She gasped in shock and grabbed the fabric to examine it more closely. Where had blood come from? She hadn't been injured anywhere on her arm as she remembered. Then suddenly, her eyes caught the horrific sight of more blood that thoroughly imbued her entire right side which she responded with a bloodcurdling scream. Turning on her heel, she ran back inside the cave, dreading what she might come to discover.

"Zuko!" she screamed. She dropped to her knees beside the seemingly peacefully sleeping Prince and reached out to him, touching his left (right) shoulder. She drew her hand back in alarm as he let out an agonizing cry of pain. She placed a hand against his forehead, feeling heavy amounts of sweat and a high fever. Her hand dropped to her side in shock. What had happened to him? "Zuko? Zuko, wake up."

A low moan erupted within the firebender's throat and he opened his eyes momentarily to glance at the girl. "Can you stand?" she asked.

"Hnn," was Zuko's only reply.

"Please try," said Katara desperately. "I need to get you out in the light so I can examine you better." Katara gently grasped Zuko's arm, and helped him stand as best as she could, though he couldn't stand up straight at all. They plodded towards the outside of the cave, stumbling a few times as Zuko's legs gave way beneath him every three or so steps.

As they stepped outside into the comforting embrace of the light, Katara already got a good view of the Prince's face, and it wasn't pretty. She laid him down on the ground gently and let her eyes roam over his face, which was almost unrecognizable. Dried, cracked blood trailed from his lips and down his chin; a large black and purple bruise the size of a rice cake was now clearly visible on his left cheek. Other small gashes also littered his face, but they were insignificant to the rest of the firebender's injuries.

Katara's eyes traveled further downward, where she noticed how red Zuko's neck was. She remembered him saying that Zhao had strangled him, or was pretty sure that was what he had meant when he said he had "gotten a hold of him." She knelt down to get a more closer look and saw that Zhao had not only strangled him, but burned him as well. But this wasn't even the bulk of the Prince's wounds. Katara looked at her blood-stained dress and knew there were other injuries she had yet to see.

Reaching out quickly, she began the slow process of unbuttoning Zuko's vest, which was now muddy and tattered and in need of a good tailor. Spreading it open, and receiving a gasp of surprise from the Prince at the sudden contact of cold air on skin, she was horrified to find his abdomen completely coated in a thick layer of blood. She also noticed the blood on his torso, upon which she discovered was from a deep wound in his shoulder, apparently a result of an arrow he could not easily dodge. The gash on his right (left) side was still oozing blood, which appeared black on account of how much of it there was.

"Great Spirits," Katara whispered. She felt as though a block of ice had dropped like a dead weight into the pit of her stomach. Why had he not told her? Why had _she _not noticed? She should have at least sensed he was hurt; sensed an abnormality in his behavior or his breathing.

"I-It's alright," came the very quiet reply of the injured Prince. "It's fine."

What? Fine? What was fine? He was severely injured, and had been for hours without any medical treatment. He had been stabbed! And was currently bleeding every ounce of his life away, and he was saying it was _fine_?

Katara sat back in surprise at such a stupid statement. "Fine? You…You stupid idiot!" she yelled. Her fury intensified as she heard the firebender give a small snort of amusement. "You think it's funny?" Katara suddenly drew her hand back, wanting so badly to slap him but she stopped herself quickly, realizing how low it would be to strike him when he was injured, no matter how much he deserved it. It annoyed her how he had far too much confidence in his health and everything he did. He was like a far cast out fishing line that was in need of being reeled in.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"What was the point? It's not like we can do much about it." Zuko's voice was so weak that Katara had to lean in to actually hear what he was fighting to say. His eyes were closed as he spoke, and his breathing was shallow and uneven. She couldn't believe he had managed to last this long. She knew he was a fighter, and never gave up trying no matter what the circumstances, but this was just crazy. "I-I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want you to worry; I knew how tired you were."

Katara's jaw dropped. "Wh-What? You didn't want me to worry? You mean to think I wouldn't have eventually noticed?"

Zuko winced at her graceless tone. "I was going to tell you. I j-just wanted to let you rest." Zuko saw that Katara was about to scream something else at him again. "I'm sorry. I didn't plan for this to happen."

"Do you have _any _idea of just how ridiculous that sounds? Of course you didn't plan on getting stabbed and mutilated, you moron!"

Zuko didn't even have the strength to be angry at the insult. "N-No…I mean, I jus-" Zuko's sentence was cut short as he let out a painful cough, spitting out a few drops of blood. Katara drew back in shock, placing a hand over her mouth. "I meant, I wanted to be here to protect you from Zhao. I-I don't know w-what he's doing n-now, but he probably thinks I'm dead at this point, a-and will be coming to f-find you."

Though none of this was her fault, she couldn't help but feel guilty. He was fighting death to protect her, and though it touched her, it also confused her. Just recently, this boy had been her enemy, and always had her on the run and leaving her apprehensive and fidgety. "I really don't understand you," she breathed in hushed despair.

Zuko smiled at the statement, remembering that he had said the same thing to her the previous night, unknown to her.

"Get up," she said frantically as she grabbed hold of Zuko and forced him to his feet.

"W-What are you doing?"

"We need to find water."

"What? Water?"

"Yes, we need to find a stream or some source of water. We need to flush out the wounds as best as we can, to wash out any dirt or bacteria that's already gotten in there. When Sokka and Aang find us, we can get you back to your ship."

"_If _they find us."

"Shut up," Katara scolded. "They'll find us. Now come on. There has to be water around here." Katara gently tugged on Zuko's arm, pulling him along and being careful not to let him collapse to the ground as his legs were visibly wobbly and he stumbled many times. "Easy," she said gently. "Come on, I've got you."

Zuko stumbled. "No, I c-can't." It was just too much. Zuko tried to maneuver himself towards the ground, wanting so badly to lie down; he had not the energy to keep going, but Katara pushed him on.

"No, don't! You have to keep moving."

"K-Katara, this is pointless."

"No, it's not! You're going to make it!"

These words did not offer much reassurance to even the waterbender herself. Zuko was already so far gone, it was uncertain if he would pull through. It wasn't even definite if he'd last another five minutes in the state he was in. Katara could feel the firebender trembling beneath her grip, and saw just how deathly pale he was. She yelped as he stumbled again, this time falling to his knees. He made no effort to get back up.

"It's not worth it," he said through gritted teeth. "Please, just leave me."

"NO!"

"I'M NOT WORTH IT!" Zuko shouted back in an equally loud tone, but soon found himself hunched over in a coughing fit as a result. Fresh blood sprayed from his mouth, sprinkling his lips and dotting the ground. He couldn't force himself to look at the waterbender as she knelt down beside him. Though at hearing her give a choked sob he couldn't help but glance at her out of the corner of his eye, overwhelmed that she actually cared that much, despite everything they had been through.

"I'm not leaving you," she managed to say through her tears. "I can't. I won't."

"Wh-Why?"

"Because I just can't!"

"You're better off without me now."

"No!" Katara seized Zuko's arm and pulled him to his feet. "I'm not leaving you. Forget it!"

Zuko opened his mouth to protest again.

"Shut up! I said forget it!"

And that was it. Zuko finally gave in to her demands. He admired her arrogance and compassion, but so deeply wished she would just leave him. Though he miraculously survived the night, he knew for certain that he did not have much time left. This was pointless. This girl was going out of her way to try and save him when there was no way on earth he was going to survive. Maybe the Avatar and the girl's brother _would_ find them, but they would have to find them within the hour in order for Zuko to have any hopes at all of pulling through. This was it. He was in his final moments, and yet this girl still believed he could survive.

He looked down at the ground as he continued to slowly follow her steps, no longer having the strength to even hold his head up. He saw with half-lidded eyes that the ground began to swirl and blur. The next thing he noticed was the distorted ground rushing to meet him, and then he heard the soft thud of his body hitting the ground, and the desperate pleas for him to stand back up. "Get up!" he heard. "Please! PLEASE GET UP!" the voice said again, and though the voice was screaming with a grieving might, it was no more than a whisper to his ears.

'_Leave me. Please, just go.' _

He felt soft, delicate hands on him, pulling at him and begging for him to stand, but he remained where he lay, his eyes fluttering. "Please!" the voice said again. "You can't die! Please! Please, Zuko!" Suddenly, he was on his back and looking up into those soft blue eyes that sparkled with unshed tears. He turned his head away, unable to bear looking at her. "Are you really going to give up now?" he heard her ask, catching the challenge in her tone. He smiled sadly, but made no move to stand. "Come on! Are you just going to lie there and give up trying? Are you really that weak?" she screamed. Zuko's smiled faded.

"Yes," he answered.

Katara slammed her fist into the ground as she screamed, and then covered her face, sobbing. No, he was supposed to get angry, he was supposed to stand up and keep going. She was so certain that challenging him would have worked, but he had really given up. "No, you're not! GET UP! You idiot, get up!"

"I'm sorry," the Prince said quietly. "I just can't."

"You have to! Please! Zuko!"

"I'm sorry."

His voice was so soft, so weak. And his eyes, barely a sparkle of life was left in them. Katara pulled at her hair as panic began to take her in a death grip. "No, no, no! No, please! Aang! Aang, where are you! AANG! Please! No!"

"D-Don't scream s-so loud. You w-want Zhao to f-f-find us?"

"I DON'T CARE!" Katara then grabbed Zuko's arm roughly, ignoring his protesting grunt and slung it over her shoulder. Hoisting the Prince up into a semi-standing position, she began dragging him along. Oh yes, he was heavy, she wasn't going to deny that, but that didn't stop her. She felt a great deal of strength well within her at the thought of losing this boy. She questioned herself several times on why she cared so deeply for this boy. They had never been close. They had been fighting against each other for more than half of their relationship (if you could call it a relationship). Why care? The answer was simple--why _not _care? Katara had always been taught to forgive, and to never judge. Zuko had gone through a lot to protect her, especially when he didn't have to. She was going to do all it took to save him, even if the chances of him pulling through were as slim as they were.

The sun disappeared behind a large, pillow-like cloud, and added along with the shade provided by the canopies of the trees, a thin darkness extended through the forest. Katara's eyes shifted from left to right, expecting someone to jump out and attack them at any given moment. But her in tune senses detected something that didn't manage to rattle her nerves.

A brook.

It was such a comforting sound, and it gave her some form of relief. And she was awfully thirsty, too, and she was sure Zuko was as well. It was best to tend to him first.

"Come on," she pressed. "Just a little further."

"May I r-remind you th-that you're the o-one dra-dragging me al-along?" said Zuko weakly, but Katara still caught the humor in his tone, and she chuckled softly. She continued pulling the Prince along, following the sound of the brook and growing more eager to find what she considered an oasis. She smiled brightly when the stream came into view and started to increase her pace, still keeping her hold on the firebender, but she stopped suddenly at a peculiar sound beneath her feet.

"Wh-What is it?" asked Zuko.

"I don't know." Katara gently sat the Prince down, leaning him against a tree, and then turning her attention back to the spot she had just stepped upon. Tapping her foot on the spot she heard what sounded like wood, not solid ground, and it sounded…hollow. Getting down on her knees, she brushed away the leaves that thoroughly covered whatever it was that had produced such an odd sound. What she discovered was most definitely wood, but the next thing she discovered left her even more curious--a chain, which encircled two slightly rusted handles, and were held together by a very heavy lock.

Katara shot a questioning look towards Zuko, who looked just as equally confused. Katara looked back down at the lock, and then hastily brushed the rest of the dead leaves away. "It's a cellar," she said. "It's a cellar!" she cried with excitement. Zuko's confused look remained fixed on his face.

"So?" he asked.

"You idiot, don't you get it?"

"Call m-me idiot one more t-time and-"

"It means there's people on this island! There's people here! We can get help!"

"T-That could have been built a l-long time ago. You c-can't be certain whoever b-built it is still here. Th-This island could have b-been long since abandoned."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to find out." Katara stood up and reached for Zuko again. "Come on. Let's head to the brook and then we'll start searching." Zuko only sighed as he was once again pulled to his feet. Arguing just wasn't in him anymore. But the sight of the brook _did _give him some sense of tranquility. He was very thirsty, and knew that water had to be cold. He was gently set beside the rippling stream where he watched it intensely, feeling his mouth growing even more dry. He watched as Katara gathered a handful of the precious, sparkling liquid into one hand and then bring it to his lips. She cradled his head with her other hand as he greedily sipped the water from her hand before it could even spill from her palm. She repeated this process until she was certain he had had his fill. She then spread his vest open where she could get better access to the wounds. Gathering more water into her hands, she tended to the stab wound first.

The feeling of the cool liquid against his open flesh hurt, but after several moments it became rather soothing. He watched as his stomach was washed clean of the sticky liquid and the dirt that had accumulated there. But even so, blood continued to flow, although not as heavily. It seemed that the blood was already beginning to clot. That was good at least, but it still didn't offer much relief. If there really were people on this island, then they'd have to find them quickly.

Katara next turned her attention to the wound in Zuko's shoulder, which wasn't nearly as deep. Zuko whimpered as she splashed the cold water against the open wound. "It's alright," she said soothingly, almost motherly. The dried blood was washed away from the outer edges of the wound, but no new blood poured forth. It seemed as though the wound had clotted very well, but would still need treatment right away to prevent infection. Hopefully flushing it out had prevented any arising infections.

Once the wounds had been thoroughly cleaned, Katara knelt by the brook and dipped her hands into the icy water and washed away every trace of blood, then drank to her fill. Wiping off her mouth, she stood up and once again slung Zuko's arm over her shoulder, then placed her other hand onto his waist to better support him. She wasn't at all sure which direction to head in, but just started walking, hoping that hospitality was within their reach.

------------------------------

"Let's head that way."

"Sokka, I don't think relying on instincts is going to get us very far, and I'm speaking from experience here. So far, relying on instincts has only gotten us in trouble with the Fire Nation."

"No, Aang, I'm sure this time."

"Sokka, for the past two days we've been changing our coarse, and practically tackling every Fire Nation ship that was within our range, and none of them had Katara, and we almost ended up getting captured!"

Sokka rubbed the back of his head. "W-Well, all those stupid ships look exactly alike! It's not my fault!"

"Right, blame it on instincts."

"Come on, Aang."

"Sokka, I want to find Katara, but I'm not so sure all this changing coarse is helping us. I mean, how do we know we weren't originally on the right coarse? She could be even farther away now BECAUSE we changed coarse."

"And she might not be. That's just it. She might be CLOSER. We just don't know. Look, she's my sister, and we have that bond that speaks out to us whenever me or her are in danger. I'm telling you, Aang, it's this way," said the Water Tribe teen as he angrily pointed off to the left, stabbing the air over and over again with his index finger to better get his point across.

"Alright, alright." Aang gave a tug of the reins and Appa quickly pulled off to the left, then began flying level again.

"We're going to have a big fight on our hands," said Sokka as he came to sit beside his companion.

"Well, you and I both know it's me Zuko's after. I'll fight him, and you go after Katara. I'll take my staff with me just in case you and Katara need to make a getaway on Appa."

"You sure you'll be alright?"

"I've dealt with Zuko plenty of times. I'll be fine."

Sokka nodded.

------------------------------

The village sat in a small valley, which was quite a view from where Katara and Zuko were standing. It was large, nothing like Kyoshi. Katara felt herself about to sob in relief. It had taken some time to find the blessed village, and facing the shock that came with discovering their destination left her feeling numb in the legs. But what was truly amazing was the fact that Zuko was still alive even after searching through the dense forest for over an hour. "Thank goodness," she said. "Come on, we better get a move on."

Getting down the slope they had been observing the village from wasn't easy. It was far too steep, and finding a less steeper section to ease their way down on wasn't easy either, but they did, and as they appeared out of the forest and approached the awaiting village, feelings of hopelessness began to slowly lift. "It's going to be alright." Tears were welling in her eyes again. "You're going to be fine."

They stumbled through the entranceway of the village, catching the eyes of a few Earth Kingdom inhabitants. A well-built soldier was quick to catch sight of the two teens and firmly grasped his spear with both hands, holding it up and preventing them from making any further movements.

"Who goes there?"

Katara finally collapsed to her knees, taking Zuko down with her. "Please!" she cried, pulling the Prince into her lap. "Please help! He's dying!"

TBC…

-snerk- Yeah, I'm evil XD

This chapter is dedicated to **LunaChaos **who hit the 400 review mark! I would also like to thank everyone else who contributed to another 100 reviews. And a big thanks to those who were understanding of my situation and didn't hound me. You know who you are.

**A/N: **Several of you have asked me this. Will Katara discover her healing powers? The answer is 'no'. I know: "But she had the perfect opportunity! She was practically healing him right there! What's wrong with you?" The thing is, I've had this entire story pretty much outlined when I first started it, from beginning to end. So yeah, I planned on Zuko getting stabbed around chapter 3. You're all probably thinking "Well what the hell takes you so long to update?" I may have the events planned out ahead of time, but getting them formed into words is the hard part. But anyway, the events in the last chapter and in this chapter had already been decided before episode 16 premiered, and as you've seen in this chapter, if I had went ahead and went along with her healing powers, there wouldn't have been much point to this chapter. Or at least some of the events wouldn't have happened. So yeah, I'm sticking to my original plan. My apologies for those who wanted to see Katara's healing abilities. This story is canon from episode 1 through 13 and that's it.

**A/N2: **I'm going to be honest. This chapter was very much rushed. I am moments away from grabbing my bags and heading off to Tennessee for two weeks, and I knew you guys probably couldn't wait another moment so I forced myself to get this done and posted. I apologize for how shitty it is, but I know how painful it is waiting.


	16. A Breath of Tranquility

_Chapter XVI_

**A Breath of Tranquility**

"Please! He's dying!"

Katara's gripped hands trembled with a mix of relief and fear. Zuko was far from out of the clear yet. As long as he had gone without treatment, it wasn't easy to determine if he'd still survive even if he did get treatment. Katara knew this of course, but she wasn't about to let go of her tiny grasp of hope. Not yet.

The stern-faced soldier bent forward slightly to better look the injured Prince over. A look of realization crossed his face, and he wrinkled his nose in disgust, looking up sharply at Katara. "He's Fire Nation," he spat. Katara's eyes narrowed to slits as she gritted her teeth.

"So? What on earth difference does that make? You would really turn away help to someone who needs it because of their nationality? You heartless-"

"What's going on here?"

Katara brought her attention away from the soldier and towards the sound of the feminine voice. A middle-aged woman approached them hastily, wiping her hands on the white apron that was tied snuggly around her green, ruffled dress. She shot a curious glance from the soldier to the two teens currently on the ground. Kneeling down in front of them, she put a hand to Zuko's forehead and a look of dismay made its appearance on her aged face. She snapped her head to the soldier.

"Don't tell me you denied them help?"

"But, ma'am, the boy is Fire Nation."

The woman turned back to the Prince. "Retrieve a stretcher."

"But he-"

"I think I made myself clear, don't you think?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am." The soldier didn't dare breathe another word of protest as he took off to fulfill the woman's firm command.

Katara watched the woman's movements in silence with eagerly. Her face did not demonstrate a good sign and didn't send the young waterbender any good vibes, nor did the Prince's coughing.

"Oh my." The woman had found the stab wound. "How long has he been injured?"

"W-Well, a few hours."

"Hours?" the woman cried in absolute shock, then looked down at the boy without erasing her expression.

"Is he going to be alright?"

The woman sighed. "Well I really can't say. But I find it absolutely amazing that this boy can have multiple injuries, _including _a stab wound, and yet can survive hours with absolutely no medical treatment."

"Well, he's pretty strong."

"Well, he must be. Strong and stubborn, obviously."

Katara nodded firmly and the woman laughed. "Well, I'll give you my honest medical opinion. Infection could have already set it and-"

"I tried to flush out the wounds as best as I could."

"Well, that's good, but dear, germs could have already gotten into his bloodstream the second after he was stabbed. We can get him all stitched up and everything, and he'll still be in danger of dying. He's already got a fever and that's not a good sign at all. Only when that fever goes down do we have any real hope, but…I'll do everything I can. I understand that firebenders are generally fast healers. Let's just hope that that's true, for his sake."

The still-baffled soldier returned with the stretcher, as the woman had requested. He sat it down, and the woman quickly took a hold of Zuko's arm. "If you can help me get him into the stretcher, we'll take him over to the infirmary, which is just right over there."

Katara glided her hands under Zuko's back and lifted his body a few inches off the ground, enough to guide him over to the stretcher. The woman took hold of the handles just above Zuko's head, while Katara grasped the handles on the opposite end. They moved quick but were careful not to let the stretcher tip to the side. They entered into the infirmary where they sat the stretcher down on a narrow table that stood right next to a bed. Being as gentle as possible, both the woman and Katara lifted Zuko from the stretcher and brought him over to the bed, setting him down carefully. The woman then moved the bedside table out of the way so to better examine the Prince. Katara remained standing on the other side, watching anxiously.

"Well, let's see here…" the woman said to herself as she glanced through the many supplies that were aligned on the shelves nailed across the wall. "We need to try and break the fever. But we should try and stop the blood flow as best as we can. What's your name, child?"

"Katara."

"Katara, take this," the woman handed Katara a clean towel, "and press it as hard as you can against the wound."

Katara nodded nervously as she placed the towel to the firebender's wound and pressed firmly.

"Kai-Ying?" said a small voice. Katara turned her head in the direction of the voice and found a small boy poking his head curiously through the door frame. "Who's that man?" he asked, pointing towards Zuko.

"Just a patient, Enlei."

"Is he sick?" the child asked, taking a step closer.

The woman, Kai-Ying, picked up a small basin and walked towards the child and kneeled so that she was eye-level with him. She offered him a gentle smile as she held the basin out towards him. "Would you take this to the well and fill it with water for me, please?"

Enlei nodded as he took the basin and scampered out of the infirmary quickly. Kai-Ying approached Zuko with furrowed brows. She gingerly placed her knuckles to his face, shaking her head in disapproval of the fever. She sighed. "Well, his breathing's pretty shallow."

Katara gave a soft sob.

"Oh, darling don't give up yet. I'll do everything to my ability to save him. If he's managed to last this long, I think his chances are pretty good."

Katara lifted her gaze from the firebender's face, to the woman. "I didn't even know there were people on this island. We came across a cellar out in the middle of the forest, and so I knew then that there must be people here. Um, if you don't mind me asking, what is that cellar for?"

"Well, about six years ago, the Fire Nation invaded this island and raided this village. You see, this island is one of the biggest supply lines of advanced medicines and herbs used by every nation. Ships would come in to retrieve it, and if ships couldn't come in, then our ships would go out. But about twenty-eight years ago, we cut off supplies to the Fire Nation. Now, this wasn't my idea. Honestly, I didn't even like the idea. To not supply someone with the medicine they may need is horrible in my opinion, but the entire village had agreed with it, so I agreed to it as well. I couldn't blame them for wanting to do it though. But the Fire Nation wasn't at all pleased, so they raided our village for our medicine, and held us under siege as well I guess as a means of revenge, but thankfully it didn't last long.

"Afterward, we dug out a place out in the woods and stored away most of our medicine in case this was to ever happen again." Kai-Ying suddenly smiled at Katara. "I'm not as judgmental as some, which is why I'm helping this boy."

Enlei returned with the basin, which was now filled to the rim with cold, sloshing water. "Thank you, dear." Kai-Ying took the basin and carefully brought it over to a small wooden table before anymore water sloshed over the rim. She caught a glimpse of Enlei approaching Zuko's bed and held her hand out to stop him. "No, no. Go on now."

"Can't I stay?"

"No, darling. Go on."

The boy whimpered disappointedly and left without anymore protests. Kai-Ying took the clean washcloth and dipped it into the cold water until it was thoroughly dampened. Wringing out the excess water, she rolled it up and laid it across Zuko's forehead. She then carefully worked his vest off his shoulders and down his arms until she could easily pull his arms through it and then pull it out from under him.

"Alright, this will just need to be cleaned good and patched up," she said as she looked over the wound in the Prince's shoulder. "But this, I'm afraid, will have to be stitched," she said as she nodded towards the stab wound. At this, Zuko gave a groan of disagreement.

"But he WILL be ok?"

"Dear, I can't give any definite answers. A healer knows better than to do that," she added with a smile. "It's how they keep from getting their heads cut off."

Katara simply nodded and then sadly looked down at the bloodied towel. She felt that heavy weight on her shoulders again; that feeling of heavy dismay and hopelessness. Zhao was still out there, which was something she would have to discuss with this woman once Zuko was taken care of.

"Alright, you can pull the towel away now."

Katara pulled the towel away from the wound and placed it into Kai-Ying's outstretched hand. Settling down onto a stool, Katara placed her hands in her lap, and lowered her head, taking a moment to recap their situation, but her thoughts were quickly broken as an ear-shattering scream erupted seconds later, causing the waterbender to jump back and knock over the stool that she had been sitting on.

"What are you doing!" the Prince screamed.

"I'm seeing how deep the wound is, and also making sure that no vital organs were damaged."

"By s-sticking your fingers in it?" the Prince gasped out painfully.

"Well, would you prefer a hot fire poker?" Kai-Ying asked with a smirk as she wiped her bloody fingers off on her apron. Zuko sucked a breath of air in through his teeth, which were sunk deeply into his bottom lip. Hearing a small giggle, he snapped his head to the side angrily.

"Stop your laughing, peasant!"

Katara agitatedly threw her arms into the air, breathing an aggressive "UGH!" in unison to her movements. "Is that the only insult you know? Can't you have a little originality!"

"Alright, both of you, that's enough," Kai-Ying cut in sharply. "And you need to relax," she added as she poked a finger at Zuko's chest. "You don't need anymore unnecessary stress." Zuko merely groaned and let his head sink slowly back into the pillow as Kai-Ying turned sharply and fumbled through the supplies aligned on the shelves, her mind set on taking care of the stab would first. Finding what she needed, she gave a quick "Ah hah" and turned back to the injured Prince. The wound would first have to be thoroughly cleaned, and then stitched.

Cleaning the wound was far more painful than the stitching itself, but that still didn't keep Zuko from squirming. "Will you hold still? How do you expect me to do this if you keep squirming around like a little hogmonkey?"

"I'm trying, but-OW! You keep-OW! Poking me!"

"Well I wouldn't be poking you if you'd just hold still for ten minutes. This isn't like sewing up a stuffed animal."

"Well it's funny you should say that, seeing as though that's what I feel like."

Katara held her hand to her mouth to try and muffle her giggles, but Zuko caught her amusement nonetheless. "Shut it," he said through gritted teeth. Katara curled her bottom lip into her mouth and held it there to better suppress her giggles. It was twice as hard to keep from laughing since Zuko held her gaze with hardened eyes, watching her intently and giving her nonverbal warnings to not laugh.

"All done."

Zuko breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just try not to move too much, alright? Too many jerky movements can easily pull those stitches out of place."

Zuko sat up slowly, ignoring the pain, and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Now just what do you think you're doing? You lay back down this instant. I still need to clean and bandage that nasty shoulder wound."

"Give me a break," the firebender muttered as he laid back down.

"Oh I'll give you a break alright, I'll break your neck if you don't stop your nagging."

Zuko only rolled his eyes, a response he had become quite accustomed to. Kai-Ying dipped a small gauze into some sort of substance that Zuko could only make out as soon-to-be liquefied pain, and boy was he right. He managed to suppress a scream as the gauze was placed against the shoulder wound. "I know it hurts, but it'll prevent infection."

Once the wound was properly cleaned and bandaged, Zuko once again attempted to get up but a gentle push foiled his attempt. "I don't think so. Your fever hasn't broken yet, and until that happens, you won't be going anywhere. And get that thing back on your head," Kai-Ying instructed as she pointed to the discarded washcloth. After watching to make sure the firebender had done what she had asked, she looked over to Katara with a more calmer expression. "Would you like some new clothes to wear? I can have those washed for you."

Katara looked down at her blood-stained tunic. "Yes, I'd appreciate that."

"Alright. Just wait here, I'll be right back. And don't you even try it," Kai-Ying snapped as she pointed a finger at Zuko, who looked ready to bolt out of that bed the moment Kai-Ying turned her back.

Once the two teens were alone, Katara looked to the annoyed Prince. "I think you should thank your lucky stars."

"Well when I get a few lucky stars, I'll make a mental note to do so."

"That woman saved your life, you should be grateful!" Katara waited for a witty retort, but the Prince remained silent, his gaze settled on a small potted Chinese elm tree that sat on the little, round table in the corner of the room. Katara's face suddenly softened. "I know I'm grateful."

Zuko turned to the waterbender with a furrowed brow. "I still don't see why you care that much."

"I value life, Zuko. I think everyone has a purpose in life, and I know yours is not the one you've been fulfilling. You've been walking the wrong path."

"Here you go with that again," the Prince sighed as he began rubbing the sides of his face with the cool washcloth.

"I'm serious, Zuko! I know you're better than that.

"Tell it to someone who cares."

"You do care, Zuko," Katara whispered. "and that's what's scaring you."

A long period of silence followed Katara's words, and it only broke when Kai-Ying returned, a clean, folded dress in her arms. "I'm not so sure this will fit you or not, but you can try it and see. There's a screen you can change behind in that little room right there." Kai-Ying pointed to the partially opened door behind Katara. The waterbender bowed her head, breathing a quick "Thank you," and then slid the door open and closed it behind her.

"I never caught your name, either."

"I'd rather not say," said Zuko uneasily, trying not to make eye contact with the woman.

"You have my trust. Even if you're a fugitive from the Fire Nation."

"Zuko."

Kai-Ying's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, I see."

"I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"Well, I…I just wasn't expecting the Prince. I mean…"

"It's a trip, isn't it?"

A look of anxiousness seemed to cross Kai-Ying's face. "I'll be right back," she said quietly as she turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Zuko asked nervously, sitting up rather quickly, ignoring the flaring pain in his side he received as a result.

"It's alright. There's just someone here I think you might want to see."

Zuko blinked, not at all understanding how there could be anyone on an Earth Kingdom island who he would know. "Who, exactly?" he asked with a tilt of the head.

"You'll see." Kai-Ying offered the Prince a reassuring smile, and then exited the infirmary, leaving the injured firebender to ponder who this person was he was supposed to want to see. Katara emerged seconds later, dressed in her new Earth Kingdom attire, which was anything but snug. Zuko took one look at the ruffled dress and snorted.

"Alright, I know it looks ridiculous. Just shut up about it. At least it's comfortable." Katara was about to take her seat by the bed but quickly noticed Kai-Ying's absence. "Where'd she go?"

"She said something about there being someone here I'd want to see."

"What?"

Zuko shrugged. "How should I know?"

Katara took a seat, still trying to smooth out the ruffles in her dress. Suddenly, her eyes widened with excitement. "Maybe it's Aang and Sokka! Maybe they came here looking for us!"

"If they did, do you think they'd still be here? They probably didn't stick around long if they came through here looking for you."

Katara's eyes darkened as the hope quickly disappeared from them. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Zuko inwardly winced. It was amazing as well as painful how easily this girl could lose hope just as quickly as she had gained it, and Zuko hadn't been doing well these past couple of days to brush aside any guilt that began to mount on account of the waterbender. He figured he might as well offer some words of reassurance.

"But, they might not have been here. They're probably still looking for you. I think it's pretty safe to say we're not going anywhere. As long as Zhao's got his fleet surrounding my ship, there's no way we're getting out of here unless it's in chains."

'_Ok, THAT came out wrong,' _Zuko thought as the look of alarm flashed across Katara's tired face.

"I'm sure the Avatar and your brother will come. As much as I hate to say it, they're out ticket out of here."

Katara tried her best to force a smile. "Yeah. I know they'll find us. They have to."

There was but a short silence before Kai-Ying returned once again. She took a quick glance at the overly-ruffled dress. "I had a feeling it might be a little too big on you."

"It's fine, thank you."

"My pleasure." Kai-Ying looked over to Zuko for a moment, and then looked behind her at whoever was standing just outside that door. "He's in here," she said as she nodded her head towards the Prince. Zuko was now more curious than ever. He held his breath as a young man stepped into the infirmary with a somewhat astonished expression. As his eyes came to rest upon him, that look of astonishment quickly switched to horror.

The man looked pretty young, most likely in his early twenties. At first glance, both Zuko and Katara thought him to be a regular Earth Kingdom villager. He wore the traditional brown and green tunic that those of the Earth Kingdom wore, but those amber eyes and that ebony hair said something different, and if Katara didn't know any better, she would have thought she was staring at a much younger Iroh. Then it hit her. She quickly turned her attention to Zuko, who was staring in utter disbelief at the man.

"Zuko?" said the man softly. "Great Agni, what happened to you?"

"Natsu…"

------------------------------

Iroh placed the dragon down on the table, extracting a small thud from the thin wood of the table. He rotated it several times, looking over its structure before averting his gaze back towards the island. Not knowing what was going on was bad enough, but not being able to do anything about it, just sit and watch, was torture. The poor man could not be blessed with even one hour of sleep. The worry that weighed him down also resulted in nausea. Even his usual faithful cup of ginseng tea could not numb his worry, and now accumulating guilt.

"I've taught you everything I know, Zuko," Iroh murmured. "I've spoon-fed you all the knowledge any firebender could possibly hope to obtain. I've scolded you, I've praised you, and I've been the light to guide you as far as the darkness has stretched thus far. I know you're not a child anymore. Can't say I like it," Iroh mused with a small smile, "but I accept it, and I couldn't be more proud. And now…" Iroh's gentle voice broke off for a moment. He looked down at the little glass dragon and sighed heavily. "I can't hold your hand anymore, Zuko. This is one battle you will have to fight on your own, and I know you'll do everything in your power to protect that girl. I can see now that's she's done far more for you than you even know. I know you won't disappoint me, my nephew. I just hope you know that I have always been proud of you."

The retired general rubbed his eyes tiredly, trying in vain attempt to rub away the stinging sensation that came with his lack of sleep. If only he knew of the events that lay ahead for both him, and his nephew.

------------------------------

"No body?"

"No, sir. We combed the forest and retraced our steps. We did find traces of blood though, and it seems Prince Zuko took refuge in a cave over night, but he left the cave probably early this morning since the blood we found inside it was already dry. We followed a faint set of footprints and a very thin trail of blood for about an hour through the forest…and we discovered the location of the village."

Zhao's lips lifted themselves from their frown and curled into a hideous smirk. "Very good. Were you spotted?"

"No, sir."

"Well, there's no question about it, he's there and I'll bet anything that girl's there with him. But at least now we know where to find them. But heed my word, no harm is to come to the girl. We'll need her to secure the Avatar's capture. Prince Zuko, I'll take care of, and for good this time, I can assure that. As for the village, burn it to the ground."

"When do we attack?" one soldier asked, a sickening eagerness in his tone.

"Tonight."

TBC…

In loving memory of Mako. The brilliant work you have done will always be cherished. You did an amazing job with bringing Iroh to life, and no one could ever replace you. You will be missed.

**A/N: ** Yes, I know, this update was a bit slow. Blame it on writer's block and my diminishing interest in Avatar. My obsessions only tend to last for about a year, and then they fizzle out. That's about how long my love for Harry Potter lasted, but if any new episodes come out that DON'T disappoint me, then I'm bound to get back in the swing. Also, I apologize for the shortness. I got stuck in several places, and kept debating on whether or not I should add in certain parts which I had planned from the beginning, or just wait until the next chapter to add them.

**A/N2: **Yes, Natsu is that OC who I had said earlier in the fic I would introduce. I was actually pretty hesitant about bringing him into the story mainly out of that fear of him being labeled as a Stu, but after Iroh mentioned he actually did have a son in the season finale, I was both shocked and even relieved, because at that point, he was only considered 50 OC. But at that time, we didn't even know his name or any full description of him. But now we know his name is actually Lu Ten (sp?) But I'm going to go ahead and continue with his original descriptions since I created him before I even knew Iroh had a son. And same goes for Katara's healing abilities.

**A/N3: **One more thing, yes Zuko and Katara WILL kiss in this story XDDDD


	17. The Symbol That Ever Was

_Chapter XVII_

**The Symbol That Ever Was**

"Natsu…"

There was no way. There was just no way it could be him, but despite the five year gap between their current and last encounter, Zuko knew his face and voice all too well. He tried to force himself to speak some kind of questioning response, but his mouth had grown dry after having it open for such a long time. For a moment, the firebender had even forgotten to breathe. The other man seemed to be starring back at him with an expression to match his own.

"Natsu's told me a lot about you," said Kai-Ying softly, finally breaking the icy silence. "Came to this island almost six years ago."

Natsu tore his eyes away from his cousin for just a moment, and settled himself down on the floor, trying to overcome his initial shock.

"You came here?" Zuko asked, directing his attention back to his cousin.

"It wasn't my original plan."

"Well what was your original plan, you inconsiderate piece of-"

"Hey, that's enough," Kai-Ying cut in firmly. She stole a glance at the other man, only to see that he had lowered his head, seeming to demonstrate a bigger interest in the floor. She sighed. "I was walking along the beach one morning and found him lying in the sand. I recognized him to be Fire Nation right away, and was hesitant about bringing him to the village, knowing everyone wouldn't take too kindly to him, but I couldn't bear to leave him to die."

"I got caught in a bad storm," Natsu continued, but kept his eyes glued to the floor, but could still feel Zuko's cold gaze on him. "You'd think steering a ship would be easy, but it's not so easy to turn quick enough when a huge slab of rock pops out of nowhere. It was raining so hard I didn't see it, and it grazed the hull of the ship pretty badly. It didn't take long for the stupid thing to start sinking, so I had to abandon ship. I saw the island off in the distance and swam for my life. I really didn't even know where I was going before that."

Silent seconds drifted by, and Zuko's face had only grown harder. He felt a great deal of anger rising, escalating in unison with a pinch of relief, but it was no surprise that his anger dominated that relief easily. There were so many things he wanted to shout at the young man, but there was a heavy lump in his throat preventing him from uttering even the slightest squeak of a question.

Natsu finally flung his awaited questions at the younger boy. "And what happened to you? What happened to your hair? Your face? Who did that?"

"It's the latest style," said the Prince arrogantly. "Why'd you run?" he threw his own question with equal seriousness. Katara watched with shifting eyes as the questions continued to ping pong between the two relatives.

"I'm serious, Zuko!" the other man shouted, completely ignoring the Prince's angry question. "Who did that? I want to know."

"I'm not telling you one thing until you explain to me why you left!"

Natsu looked away towards the wall. "You wouldn't understand."

"Well, then I don't think you'll understand either."

"Fine. Forget it then."

Natsu pushed himself onto his feet and stormed out of the infirmary with long strides. Zuko was almost inclined to go after him, but his undignified anger prevented his pursuit to obtain an answer from the older firebender, as well as the newly stitched wound which couldn't afford any sudden movements at the moment

"You know, it's strange," the Prince began suddenly, an etch of sadness in his voice. "For years I've hoped he'd someday come home. Even during my banishment, I hoped for a time that we may find each other, and well…here we are, and I feel like I should be happy, but I don't know what to think, or how to feel."

"You're just shocked is all," said Katara reassuringly.

"A part of me wants to rip him apart. He put my uncle through so much pain. He put _me_ through a lot of pain, too."

"He never intended to," Kai-Ying chimed in. "He told me how much he missed you."

"Oh? And I suppose he told you why he ran away?"

"Well…yes."

"Great. He can tell you but he can't tell me. That says a lot."

"You have to understand that he cherishes his relationship with you. He's just afraid of doing anything that might ruin it. He doesn't want to lose your love and respect. Just give it some time. I think he's just a little overwhelmed right now. I can talk to him if you want me to."

Zuko leaned back into the pillow, messaging his throbbing temples and exhaling deeply. Kai-Ying didn't wait for a reply before heading out the door in pursuit of the long since retreating firebender. Katara watched Zuko intently, waiting for any kind of snide or sarcastic remark to erupt from his pursed lips. When he pulled his hands away from his face and slowly opened his eyes, Katara saw just how much pain he was in.

Reaching out a trembling hand, she took the boy's own hand into hers, surprised that a firebender could have such soft hands. She felt that she could not offer any form of words that could bring the Prince reassurance. Truly, it was nearly impossible to say anything that could melt away the ice that always seemed to incase the boy, but all she wanted to do was to show that she was there, and that he was not alone.

Zuko slowly turned his head to face her, locking his half-lidded eyes with her own. Any other time, he most likely would have shoved her hand away and turned away from her. Solitude was usually his only form of comfort, and he always welcomed it graciously, but for the first time in his life, being alone seemed to be the one thing he could no longer bear to endure. Maybe he had lost his strength and will to fight, or maybe this girl _was_ his strength. If it had not been for her, Zuko would have given up and accepted death in those woods.

Without thinking, he slowly clasped his hand with hers.

-----------------------------

Katara was not aware that she had fallen asleep until she woke up some hours later with her head resting on Zuko's bed, her hand still grasping his. She remembered pulling her stool closer to his bedside and laying her head down to rest. She also remembered uttering some kind of comforting words to the boy. Something like, "It'll be alright" and "I'm here". After that she couldn't recall. She must have fallen asleep right after the words slipped from her lips. It made her wonder if Zuko had anything to say in response that she possibly did not hear.

Lifting her head, she let her eyes roam over his sleeping face. He looked so different when he was asleep. He looked several years younger when his face wasn't constricted by anger. He looked so much more at peace. It was almost heartbreaking to see someone not be so angry all the time only in their sleep.

She traced a finger over the angelic face, ghosting over every facial feature, until her finger came to rest upon the rough, marred flesh that Zuko considered to be nothing more than a shameful reminder of what he thought of as failure. She withdrew her finger from his face for just a moment, but then let her entire hand come to rest upon the scar, letting her thumb message the darker portion of the healed burn. She then became aware of a hand reaching up to grasp her own and she made an attempt to pull her hand away, figuring that was Zuko's intention, but his hand did not pull her own away from his face, but instead rested atop hers. Seconds later, amber eyes fluttered open, and slowly shifted to meet her soft gaze.

Katara's breath hitched in her throat as she opened her mouth partially. No words came of course, just a soft exhale of that heavy intake of air. She watched with interest as Zuko leaned his face into her hand while still keeping his own hand on top of hers. Before she could even acknowledge it, Katara began leaning forward while still keeping her eyes on the Prince's so to look for any signs of uncertainty.

And finally the contact was made.

It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, but still foreign to her. Katara had never kissed a boy before and really had no comprehension as for what to do, so she followed Zuko's lead, wondering if this was his first kiss as well.

Their lips seemed to mold together, every once and a while parting for a moment and then quickly connecting with each other once again. Zuko ran his tongue along her bottom lip, asking for entrance, which was quickly granted without a moment's hesitation. He placed a hand on the back of her head to pull her more into the kiss, keeping it gentle and not too rough.

The same question raced through both their minds: '_Am I his/her first?'_

The sound of someone clearing their throat forced them to quickly part. "You know, I really don't think you're in any kind of physical condition to become a man just yet," said Natsu slyly.

Katara blushed madly while Zuko's mouth fell open. "You're disgusting," he spat.

"It was a joke, get over it. Look, I'm sorry I walked out earlier. It was just…a little too much to take in, you know?"

"Whatever."

"Zuko, what do you want from me?"

"An explanation!"

Natsu's face softened. He nodded slowly in understanding as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, you're right. I do owe you an explanation."

"Do you want me to leave?" Katara asked as she began to stand up. Natsu lifted a hand and shook his head. He gave her the best smile he could offer.

"No, it's alright."

Katara took her seat and folded her hands in her lap, exchanging wary glances between the two relatives. She could only pray that this didn't result in angry shouts and insults.

"I guess the first thing I should say is…I'm sorry. I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry I worried you and my dad, but-"

"Let me guess, it was something you had to do?" Zuko cut in.

"Well, yeah." The young man sighed, searching himself for the best way to explain. "Let me ask you this. What exactly do you think we're going to get from winning this war? Tell me."

Zuko blinked, obviously confused by such a question. "Wait, you mean you don't support the war?"

"Of course not! It's absolutely pointless. If we win, where does that leave us? Nowhere. I was expected to follow my father. To become a general just like him and lead my armies into Ba Sing Se and finish what my father had started."

"Uncle never expected you to do that. He never went on about you becoming a general or anything like that."

"Yeah, well everyone else did. "Oh, he's going to make a fine general. Iroh will be so proud of him. The next Dragon of the West, that's what he'll be." I hated hearing the same thing over and over again, but I couldn't come out and say I didn't support the war without having to suffer the consequences. I would have been considered a traitor. I had no choice but to run. I never intended to hurt you, or my dad. I know it seems cowardly, turning my back on my nation…but, I don't regret it. I mean, if it had been the other way around, I wouldn't have run."

"What'd you mean, 'the other way around'?"

"You know, if any of the other nations had started this war, then I would have stayed and fought to defend my country. But me fighting a war that my own people had started, and for the most ridiculous reasons, is shameful. What's more shameful is how our people seem to be so hyped up about honor but they don't know even know what real honor is."

At these words, Katara turned and sent Zuko a hard glance, making the Prince lower his head. For a moment, he expected something along the lines of "What does that tell you?" to be shouted at him, but silence carried on for a few short minutes before Natsu continued on.

"But anyway…that's why I left," he said with a shrug. "I hope you can understand," he added pleadingly. "If you hate me, then…there's really nothing more I can say, except that I don't blame you."

Zuko still felt the urge to shout, but there wasn't a good enough reason to. So maybe he did run away from his family and nation, but what he said was true. What was there to gain? What could possibly come out of this war except death, turmoil, and grief? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

After a short pause, the firebender finally lifted his head and gave his cousin a small nod, then looked back down at his lap, still trying to avoid his gaze.

Natsu cocked an eyebrow. "Well, are you going to tell me what happened to you or not?"

"Fine, fine." Zuko got himself into a sitting position, once again preparing to relive the ordeal he always tried to keep shoved in the back of his mind. "Look, I really don't want to go into detail, so to make a long story short, I said some things I shouldn't have, and was punished for it."

"There's no way someone could harm the Prince of the Fire Nation without having to suffer even worse consequences. Unless…" Natsu's eyes suddenly widened with realization. "It was your father, wasn't it?"

Zuko merely sighed.

"That son of a-"

"Look, Natsu, I spoke out in my father's war room and Uncle told me I wasn't supposed to. He warned me and I didn't heed his word, so I asked for it."

"Your father's war room? Wait a minute, Zuko you're sixteen now, right? And Ozai said you couldn't attend the meetings until you were seventeen. How old were you when this happened?"

"Fourteen, and I know Father said that, but Uncle thought I was ready."

"What exactly did you say in there?"

"I spoke out against a battle strategy some pompous general had come up with. He actually wanted to use new recruits as a distraction against an Earth Kingdom battalion so that they could better their attack."

"And your father punished you for that?" Natsu shouted angrily while pacing the room with equal turmoil.

"And banished me."

Natsu ceased his pacing. "Banished you?" The young man pursed his lips and shook his head in disgust. "I'll kill him. I swear I'll kill him."

"Natsu, I already told you, I asked for it."

"Asked for it how? From what you've told me, you spoke against something that was low and disgraceful. You did exactly what I would have done! And the whole thing is a complete act of hypocrisy. You were banished for "betraying" your nation, but what do you call sacrificing your own people to better succeed in battle? I can't believe this. This is unbelievable."

"That's what I've been trying to tell him," said Katara. The two young men quickly snapped their heads towards her, having forgotten she was in the room after their conversation had begun to intensify.

"Well, for as long as I've known him, he's too stubborn to believe anything you tell him."

"I'll say."

Zuko narrowed his eyes. "You know, I'm really getting sick of hearing that."

"Well, it's true," Katara laughed.

Zuko opened his mouth once again to protest but soon realized that that was exactly what they wanted him to do to better prove their point, so he shut it immediately, but that didn't stop him from glaring daggers at just about every object his eyes came to rest upon in the room.

"What happened to you two, anyway? I mean, how'd you get here, and who attacked you?"

"Well, I'll give you a hint. He's the biggest butt kisser you'll ever have the misfortune of knowing."

"Captain Zhao?"

"Well, now he's Commander - er Admiral," Zuko corrected himself.

"Ah, so he's still escalating in ranks, I see. Well there's no surprise there, the idiot. Did he have an army with him?"

"Yeah, he had a small fleet of ships. They closed in on my ship. Uncle told us to swim over here, thinking it was our best option. In the long run, I guess it was. And I use the phrase, "long run" _not _so mildly. Zhao got me with a dagger."

Natsu folded his arms over his chest, his face growing a bit more disdainful. "Well, I'll alert the soldiers in the village about this, and have them set up a perimeter around the village."

"You think that'll work?" Katara asked with a pinch of apprehension in her tone.

"Well, I don't know. It's really all we can do right now."

"Natsu! Natsu!"

The trio looked towards the door upon hearing the frantic shouting. A small woman stepped halfway through the door, completely out of breath from running. "It's Lien. Her fever's gotten worse," the girl gasped. Natsu took the news with just a small amount of despair; he didn't blink, nor bat an eye. From the way his expression read, he wasn't surprised, but still saddened.

"Alright, I'm coming," he said softly. The girl nodded firmly as she turned on her heel and left without waiting for even a second. Natsu turned back to face the two refugees, his shoulders dropping even more. "Umm, look I'll be back soon. It's Lien, she's been sick for a few days and I need to go to her. Just…stay here, alright?"

The man left once again in the same long-stridden pace he had just hours ago, leaving Katara Zuko alone once more, slightly baffled. No more than a second after he left Zuko began swinging one leg over the side of the bed, being careful not to make his movements too quick. His wounds still protested to the movements, but it was to be expected. The firebender simply responded with a low hiss, and proceeded to slip off the bed as easily as he could.

"What're you doing? You need to give yourself a chance to heal," Katara said in a frightening motherly tone. Zuko snorted as he swung his other leg over the side of the bed to join his other on the wooden floor.

"What? And get bed sores?" he scoffed. He looked over his shoulder at the waterbender. "I want to see what's going on." He proceeded to push himself off the bed but his legs were slightly weakened and he fell right back onto the bed.

"Oh, hold on a second. I'll help you up," Katara snapped in annoyance. "You're causing me more turmoil than I need," she muttered as she hooked an arm under his and helped him to his feet. They shuffled out of the infirmary and out into the sunlight. They weren't sure where to go exactly, but after seeing a small group of people standing outside of a little hut, they figured that was where they needed to go.

"Excuse me, what's going on?" Katara asked a worried elderly man.

"It's little Lien. Poor thing. Been sick for the past few days with a fever, and it hasn't gotten any better, only worse. She's the third one this month who's gotten sick. This is a bad time of year for little ones."

Zuko pulled himself away from Katara's supportive grip and peeked through the strands of beads that hung from the doorway. Katara followed close behind him, taking a peek as well. Several faces turned to look up at them, including Kai-Ying, who sat with a basin of water resting in her lap and Natsu. They were both huddled on the ground next a woman who was holding a weak looking little girl. She couldn't have been no older than six or seven.

"I thought I told you to stay in the infirmary."

"Since when do I listen to you?"

Natsu looked back down at the girl for a moment, then gestured for Zuko to come closer. "Come over here," he added. "Lien?" he asked softly as he looked back down at the child. Zuko saw just how flushed her face was as he moved closer. Taking a seat beside his cousin, he watched as her eyes fluttered open. "Lien, I'd like you to meet someone," he said softly, then placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "This is Zuko. My cousin I told you about."

Whispers broke out at the mention of the Prince's name. Natsu shot them all a few warning glances before turning back to Lien.

Zuko watched as the little girl's expression brightened slightly. "The one with the heart of fire?" she whispered. Zuko blinked at the girl's words, then turned back to stare at the man.

"Yeah."

The girl looked back to Zuko, and then weakly reached a hand towards the silent Prince. Zuko scooted closer, not so sure what the girl was intending to do. When he saw that her hand was directed more towards his face, he leaned in slightly, just close enough so that her tiny hand touched his scar. "It looks like a flame," she said. "Is it a symbol? Does it stand for the fire in your heart?" she asked. Despite her condition, her voice still held that wild curiosity that most children possessed.

There was a heavy silence that followed. It was another simple 'yes or no' question, but he had never thought of himself ever possessing a 'heart of fire' let alone ever thinking of his scar being at all symbolic of something gallant or honorable. He suddenly remembered what Katara had said. "Yeah," he said uneasily. "That's what it stands for."

Lien smiled again, and her hand slowly slipped from his face as her eyes closed. There was a cry of despair from the mother as she clutched the girl tightly to her chest. Zuko straightened himself up slowly, looking towards Natsu, finding that he was looking at the ground. Several people had stood and left, most in tears, and some with unreadable expressions. Katara looked close to tears herself.

Natsu bowed respectfully to the mother, then stood. "Come on," he whispered. "We should leave her alone for a moment."

Kai-Ying followed them out as well, trying to keep her tears at bay. Once they were all at a fair distance from the hut, she spoke up. "Too young. It's the hardest thing a healer must endure; watching a child die and know there's nothing you can do. She's not the first to die of the fever. It's a bad time of year, especially for children. And unfortunately, the fever usually claims them. Our medicines usually can't do much, I'm afraid."

The healer looked down at the still-filled basin, then tilted it slightly, allowing the water to splatter onto the ground. She then retreated back to the infirmary, but very slowly.

Natsu had already left, and now Katara and Zuko stood alone, together, their expressions mixed and unreadable. It didn't take long for the waterbender to bury her face into the Prince's chest, muttering a pain-stricken, "Now do you believe me?"

TBC…

This chapter is dedicated to **Genji1381 **who nailed 500 reviews :D

**A/N: **I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but I removed my drabble fic "Travels, Trifles, and Tribulations". I haven't been getting hit with a lot of plot bunnies lately, and the fic didn't seem to be getting a lot of attention anyway, so if I'm not enjoying it, and other people aren't enjoying it, then there was really no point in keeping it up. I apologize to anyone who did happen to keep up with it.

These were my most interesting reviews I received. I actually laughed…after I stopped blinking at my screen for a half hour.

**fuck you!**

**you're a bitch.**


	18. The Archers Move In

Chapter XVIII

The Archers Move In

Katara had long since gone back to the infirmary, a great weight of sadness pressing down on her. Her usual perfect posture had slacked slightly as she retreated. Now Zuko stood alone, his shoulders drooping and his own posture slacking. Sighing, he slowly staggered back to the infirmary.

Kai-Ying's head slowly lifted itself as Zuko stepped into the infirmary. She shook her head disapprovingly. "I really wish you had not gotten out of bed," she said tiredly. "Your wounds won't heal as fast if you keep moving around so much."

"Sorry," Zuko muttered. "Where's Natsu?"

Kai-Ying stepped towards the doorway and pointed. "He's in that little dojo right there."

"He and I really need to talk."

Zuko hesitated for a moment. What more was he supposed to say to his cousin that he had not said already? A great deal of time had passed since he had last seen him. There were plenty of things to discuss with him, surely, but his mind could only draw a shameful blank. He couldn't possibly go over there and rant and rave at him again, not after what had just happened. Maybe just being there for him was all he needed, rather than letting unsettled anger continue to cloud and smother his affection. That was the last thing he needed.

Kai-Ying didn't bat an eye or force a disapproving frown as Zuko shot her a quick glance. She simply nodded, and Zuko stepped back out again.

------------------------------

Zuko stepped up into the doorway and took a few quick glances around but saw no sign of his cousin. He strode over to the table that sat in the corner of the room. Upon it lay three little candles, accompanied by several incense, which produced a juniper and cedar mix aroma throughout the room. Kneeling down on one knee, Zuko leaned forward slightly in order to see exactly what it was that lay in the center of the table.

It was a small, stuffed badger mole.

"What're you doing here?"

Zuko turned his head at the sound of his cousin's voice, then slowly stood, biting his lip slightly in pain. "Kai-Ying told me this was where you were."

Natsu walked past Zuko and took a seat on the floor where the Prince had just been. Shutting his eyes, he bowed his head.

"Did that belong to her?" Zuko asked as he pointed his finger towards the little stuffed toy.

"Yeah. She took that thing everywhere. She was over here a few days ago and left it here by accident. I meant to bring it back to her…but then she got sick and I just…"

Natsu could only finish his sentence with a sigh and then stood and shuffled into the next room, taking a seat on top of a ruffled cushion placed in front of a square table. Zuko stood silently in the doorway and watched as his cousin poured himself a cup of sake, not sure if he should try to approach the other man or just leave him in peace.

"Well, get in here and sit down already."

Zuko hesitated a moment, then stepped into the room and sat down across from the other man, watching him curiously. After more silence was shared, Zuko saw that Natsu was waiting for _him _to break the silence.

"How long did you know her?"

"Ever since I came here. Of course she was just a little thing then. Barely old enough to walk. But as she got older she started taking an interest in me. Children are naturally curious. It took months for the people in this village to actually trust me. I know Lien must have heard plenty of stories about how horrible the Fire Nation is and what we've done to the world, but I guess Lien decided she'd be the judge of character. I grew pretty attached to her, too."

Zuko blankly stared down at his hands, shifting slightly. He leaned forward and placed one elbow on the table, letting his fingers gently caress the rough skin of his scar.

"It's bothering you, isn't it?"

"What?"

"What Lien said to you, about your scar being a symbol."

"Well, what really bothers me about it is…well Katara said the exact same thing."

"Katara? That girl who was with you?" Natsu smiled suddenly. "You guys gonna get married?" he joked. Zuko rolled his eyes.

"You just couldn't resist, could you?"

"Hey, you know me," Natsu replied with a broad smile, placing a hand over his chest. "She's a pretty girl. Where'd you meet her?"

"It's kind of a long story, and I really don't want to get into it."

"Well, alright."

There was another short, uncomfortable silence.

"Look," Zuko began, "I didn't want to bring this up, but I might as well. There's one way I can return home…well, there was…and that's to capture the Avatar and bring him to Father."

"Zuko, that's crazy. The Avatar-"

"-Is alive."

Natsu nearly dropped his cup of sake. "Woah, come again?"

"You heard me. The Avatar's alive…and I've been trying to capture him for over a month now."

"Why?" Natsu asked, bewildered.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because I'm tired of living a life at sea," the Prince snapped sarcastically.

Natsu took a sip from his cup and nodded. "Ok, well answer me this. Was it discovered that the Avatar was alive before or after your father banished you?"

"Shut up."

"No, I'm serious."

"I'm not stupid, Natsu. Don't even think I can't read between those sentences. I know what you're getting at, and you're wrong."

"Why am I wrong, Zuko? And _why_ are you so hard-headed? I'm your cousin, I grew up with you! I saw how your father treated you. He was hardly ever home, he barely paid any attention to you and any attention he _did _give you was usually violent. The only time he ever let up on you was when my father was around. Now, you go out there and capture the Avatar then you're screwing up this world's last chance at gaining balance."

"You think I haven't heard that already?" Zuko snapped as he shoved his face in his hands.

"Oh, Katara already got to you, huh?"

"Yeah, and she's really good at it," Zuko replied into his hands.

Natsu took another sip from his cup. "Well, are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Going to capture the Avatar?"

"I don't know, ok? I…just don't know. I've been going crazy over this these past few days."

"That's because you like that girl, and I'm sure she cares about you, and you don't want to betray her feelings. I know you, Zuko. Believe it or not, you're a good judge of character. The only problem with you is you worry too much about what other people think of _you_. Does my father think you're weak? Does Katara think you're weak?"

"No."

"So why does it matter so much what your father thinks when his one goal in life is to destroy the remaining nations and gain world dominance?"

"Because he's my father."

Natsu let his head fall to the table. "What's it going to take to get through to you? Thirty pounds of blasting jelly? Seriously, Zuko, what do I have to do? You've got to go with what you think is right. You can't always go by what others tell you. If I followed everyone else's beliefs, then I wouldn't be here right now, and neither would you. You were banished because you went by what _you _thought was right. Think about that."

The older firebender finished the cup of sake and gently laid it down onto the table. He waited for any kind of response from his cousin, then finally stood and began to leave.

"Natsu, wait."

"Yes?"

Zuko took a deep breath, bit his bottom lip and carefully stood up, trying to ignore the sharp pain. "If…If I were to…side with the Avatar, would that restore my honor?"

"Zuko, you're missing the point of everything I'm trying to tell you. You never lost it."

Despite the horrible pain that resulted from it, Zuko turned and angrily kicked the table over. Natsu hardly flinched, but raised a brow.

"You know, I just cleaned up in here."

"Look, Father sent Zhao after me, ok? You're right, I didn't want to admit it, but he doesn't want me back home at all! He wants me dead! He sent me on a wild goose chase as a means to get rid of me, and when he found out the Avatar was alive he promoted Zhao to Admiral in order to give him further power to keep ME from fulfilling my mission. IT WAS ALL A LIE!"

"Zuko, calm down."

"It was all pointless! Completely pointless! A WASTE!"

"No do-Zuko, stop." Natsu walked forward and took hold of Zuko's wrists before he could do further damage. It felt like déjà vu to Zuko. "Just stop, calm down, you're going to pull your stitches loose."

The Prince lowered his head so that he could blink away his tears before Natsu took notice. "Sorry," he muttered.

"It's ok. Look, just head back to the infirmary and try to relax for a while. You really shouldn't be walking around in your condition."

Zuko turned away and shook his head. "I really don't want to go back there."

"Well, alright then, just stay here. I've got a few extra futons. Just please try and relax a while."

Natsu left to retrieve one of the futons and Zuko slowly followed, barely lifting his feet from the wooden floor.

"When are you going to tell the village about Zhao?"

"Right now."

Natsu spread the blanket over the futon and smoothed the fabric of its wrinkles. He stood up and nodded towards it. "Well, go ahead and lie down."

"Maybe I should come with you."

The other man laughed. "Oh please, don't even bother. I know already they're going to give me a bunch of grief, and they're not too fond of you right now. No offense, but you'll just make things worse. Let me handle this."

Natsu exited through the door, leaving Zuko standing in the sunlight that poured through it. He rubbed the unscarred side of his face and looked to the futon tiredly. He _did _want to lie down; his legs felt like mush, but his undying need to do exactly what his cousin had instructed him not to forced him to turn and head out the door as well.

Zuko found his cousin talking to two soldiers, who did _not _look very happy to say the least. One of them took notice of the injured firebender and pointed an accusing finger towards him.

"This is your fault! You've brought war upon us!"

"Oh for the love of Agni, get back in there! What did I just tell you?"

"As I said before, since when do I listen to you?" Zuko replied with a smirk as he boldly approached the soldiers, a hand placed gingerly against his wound.

"You are the Fire Lord's son, are you not? You should be taken to Ba Sing Se for sentencing!" one of the soldiers spat.

Natsu looked to the men with wide eyes. "Sentencing for what? He's done nothing."

"He is the Fire Lord's son! He-"

"Big deal! Zuko didn't start this war, and he certainly isn't proceeding it. He's been banished for crying out loud, and his father's right hand man has been sent to kill him and is on this island right now! Now are you going to stand there and point fingers, or are you going to set guard to the village?"

The two soldiers looked to each other, and then turned to leave, but not without sending Zuko one last hateful glare. Natsu snorted.

"They hate taking orders from a firebender."

"Can they even hold Zhao and his men off?"

"Well, as much as I hate to give them compliments, they're skilled benders. If they aren't overly outnumbered, then I think they have a good advantage. Hopefully word won't spread. I don't want anyone to raise any panic.

"You'd probably point the finger at me."

"Just get back in there and lie down, and I mean it this time. Don't make me have to use brute force."

Zuko only snorted, deciding to go against any more mockery towards his cousin's authority. He simply turned and went back inside.

------------------------------

Zuko gazed at the ceiling tiredly after just recently waking up from a short nap, his arm draped lazily over his forehead. He hated lying around, injury or no injury. He just felt like useless weight taking up oxygen.

"Zuko, are you in here?" came Katara's voice.

"Yeah."

"Can I come in?"

"Please. I've been dying for human contact which should prove how bored I really am."

Zuko tried to very carefully sit up but didn't get very far. "Well, that's not going to work," he muttered as he gently lay back down. Katara stood over him and crossed her arms.

"Well, looks like Mr. Tough Guy isn't as tough as he thought."

"Watch it. Just because I'm lying on my back doesn't mean you can happily prance all over my pride."

The waterbender smirked. "But it's fun."

Zuko swiped his foot behind Katara's ankle and sent her falling back with a surprised yelp.

"So was that," he said. Katara sat up and crawled towards the Prince.

"Clever. So, did everything go ok with Natsu?"

"Yeah, I guess. It took me a while to finally admit that he was right about my father."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

"Don't get cute."

Katara smiled, but it quickly faded. She gripped the fabric of her tunic apprehensively. "Um, do you regret what happened earlier?"

Zuko cocked a brow. "What? The kiss? I don't know. Not what I expected but could have been worse."

Katara's eyes narrowed. "You're a real romantic, aren't you?"

"It was a joke. And no, I don't regret it."

Katara looked towards the floor and then decided it would probably be best if she just changed the subject. "What are we going to do about Zhao?"

"Natsu talked it over with a couple of soldiers. They looked like they wanted to take my head off."

"Well that was to be expected. This place isn't exactly firebender friendly."

Zuko suddenly noticed that Katara was wearing her blue tunic again. "You know, I think I kind of liked that Earth Kingdom dress."

Katara snorted. "Yeah right_. I _liked it but I kept stumbling in it. I'm just glad to have my old clothes back." Katara moved a little closer towards the Prince until her face was just inches away from his. Zuko's eyes, which had closed during their conversation, opened when he felt Katara's hot breath on his face. They stared.

The waterbender could very easily see the agitation hinted in the Prince's pursed lips, as well as the exhaustion in his eyes. It still seemed so odd to see Zuko in such a state -- almost…helpless, though she would dare not say anything in relation to him being weak. She knew well to keep those thoughts to herself.

She couldn't imagine the trauma. The horror of knowing your own father would rather see you dead and lying in a ditch. She wondered just how much he was holding back, and how long it would be before the dam crumpled.

Another thought had occurred to her: what was going to happen when she was reunited with Sokka and Aang? What was Zuko going to do? He had not said he was going to cease his efforts to capture the Avatar, but he had certainly said it would be pointless. What did that mean for him now?

"Zuko…what are you going to do?"

Zuko's head turned slightly as he heard the question. Katara's eyes were pleading with him, and it was hard to keep from looking away. "I don't know," he replied softly. "This is all very difficult to take in."

"I know."

Zuko sighed sadly. "No, I don't think you do."

Katara's frown seemed to deepen, but she nodded in understanding. She leaned in a little more until her face just barely brushed against his. As he turned his head a little more, she took that as the hint to continue, and she lightly pressed her lips against his.

------------------------------

It was odd to watch the casket be lowered into the ground. Zuko had been to plenty of funerals. They had always cremated the body, and someone would then spread the ashes somewhere that was once sacred to the deceased.

"She was so young," came Katara's gentle voice. Zuko looked at her for a split second, then turned his attention back to the funeral.

"Why do they bury the body?" he asked.

"That's just how they do it in the Earth Kingdom. The family members like to be able to visit their loved one's resting place, you see. They like to place flowers on the grave to honor them. Sometimes they'll even decorate the grave with ornaments. In the Water Tribe, we lay the dead to rest at sea. Everyone just has their own way of putting the dead to rest."

Zuko nodded, seeming to understand the purpose. He then turned his attention over to Natsu, who stood with his hands behind his back and looking rather solemn.

"Are you alright?"

Natsu nodded, trying to force a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Both Katara and Zuko watched with concern as Natsu suddenly left and returned to his residence before the funeral had been complete. "I hope he's going to be alright," said Katara.

------------------------------

Night soon embraced the village, and with it came a bitter blanket of cold and a disturbing silence. Even the crickets would not sing their evening melodies

Most everyone had turned in for the night. They had closed their doors and shutters and blew out the candles before retiring. Along with everyone else, Zuko and Katara had also turned themselves in for the night. Things seemed at peace for the moment.

"Everything's clear over here. I don't see anything suspicious."

"Well, keep your eyes peeled. Don't let your guard down."

A burly Earth Kingdom soldier leaned against an old oak tree, looking from one direction to the other and listening for any questionable sounds. "It's quiet tonight," he whispered into the silent air. "A little too quiet if you ask me." The man clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, and then he grimaced. "Deshi? Do you have any water with you?"

Deshi looked over towards the larger man, then nodded as he reached down to grab the water pouch attached to his belt. "Yeah, I've got a little bit left."

The young soldier just barely made it five feet before coming to an abrupt halt, then collapsing onto the ground. The larger soldier stood puzzled for a moment but then noticed the feathery tips of three arrows pointed towards the sky.

"We're under atta-" Before he could finish his sentence he felt the quick, sharp pain of an arrow striking his chest, and then he suddenly fell back, dead before his body hit the hard earth.

Soldiers from nearby heard the attack and quickly spread out more, searching the trees as well as the ground, their fist raised and ready to crush their opponent with their element. But there was silence still. The arrows had hardly made a sound themselves when they sliced through the air at high speeds and ending the lives of their targets. The soldiers weren't sure who they were looking for here. It wasn't typical for fire benders to use a bow and arrow as a weapon. And how many attackers were there? Were there more than one?

One of the soldiers knelt down beside one of the bodies, examining the arrows carefully. "Look at the trajectory. The attackers must be in the trees."

Just as the soldier prepared to stand up he was quickly thrown back as the force of the arrow striking his chest threw him off balance. The remaining soldiers took a fighting stance.

"Come out and fight, coward!" one of them shouted to the trees. Another long wave of silence followed and the soldiers slowly ventured deeper into the woods. No one heard the loud thuds as each body hit the ground. No one witnessed it but the killers themselves. There was no screaming, and any expression of pain or shock went unseen in the dark shadows cast from the looming trees.

One by one, each archer gracefully leapt down from the low tree branches, bows gripped firmly in their hands. Not a word was said as they slowly started making their way down into the valley, where the sleeping town awaited them.

TBC…

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**A/N: **Alright, I'm sorry it took forever to update, and I'd also like to apologize for how shitty this chapter is. The last bit of it I slapped together just so I could get it done and updated. Truthfully, I kind of got tired of this fic and just took a break from it for a while, then I started a new fic almost a month later, which I enjoyed writing very much. I had planned to get back to work on this fic the day I got out for Christmas break, but my dad passed away and things got very hectic and we were on the go all the time for about a week and barely had a chance to breathe. I tried to get back to the story but writer's block had already heavily set in.

As time passed by, I started losing interest more and more in this fic. Recently I got back into the Powerpuff Girls so my attention has been directed over in that fandom. I honestly don't read Avatar fan fiction anymore. At least not right now. So my lack of interest also made it harder to write this story.

I would also like to address something regarding reviews. Over time, some of you left some very aggravating reviews, and though I don't blame most of you, some of your reviews were rather rude. Yes, I'm looking at you, Meg. Another thing, you all have to understand that I cannot respond to anonymous reviews UNLESS there's an e-mail attached. Those who were begging to know why I wasn't updating did not leave an e-mail and so left me no way of contacting them to explain what was going on.

One last thing. I don't owe it my readers to update, I owe it to myself.

Thank you.


	19. The Attack

Chapter XIX

The Attack

Zuko looked up towards the wooden ceiling in silence. He breathed in and out slowly, as the wound in his side was still sore and would protest against any movement he made, including breathing. Katara lay next to him, and appeared to be asleep. They had both talked for a while, but Zuko had lost track of long ago it was. Katara had continued to pester him about what he was going to do from here, and when his answer remained unknown to both of them, Katara had made a suggestion of coming with her, Sokka, and Aang.

He knew the idea was absurd but he hadn't been at all surprised when Katara had brought it up. He figured she had been dying to ask him, and given the situation he was in now, why shouldn't she have asked him?

"Aang's eventually going to have to learn firebending. It's not like we're going to be able to find a willing teacher in the Fire Nation, seeing as how pretty much every firebender we've come in contact with wants to kill us."

The idea seemed stupid, but what else could he do? His father nor his entire country wanted him to return. Everything had been a waste, so what would it matter if he joined them? Ozai had obviously marked Zuko a failure a long time ago, and nothing was ever going to change that. Even if he _had _captured the Avatar. What other choice did he have? But if he got out of this situation alive, he wanted to talk it over with his uncle first, though he knew right off the bat that the old man would end his proverbial speech with a "You must decide for yourself" conclusion.

Zuko turned and looked down at the waterbender when he felt her stir slightly beside him. She slept on, though her position had changed and she was now turned away from him with her back pressed against his side. Zuko sighed and turned his attention back to the ceiling, waiting for sleep to finally claim him and grant him a little mercy from his plaguing thoughts. How in the world were they going to get out of this one?

Just as his eyes began to drift shut, the sound of glass breaking and a _wooshing _sound was heart, causing him to sit up with a start. He ignored the searing pain in his side and looked towards the wall on his right side. A flaming arrow had embedded itself into the wood, and the flames were now devouring the wood and making their way towards the ceiling at rapid speed.

"What's going on?" Katara asked after being woken by the sound of the glass breaking.

"We need to get out of here," Zuko replied urgently as he got to his feet and pulled Katara up with him.

"Let's go! We're under attack!" Natsu shouted as he made his way out the door, gesturing for both Katara and Zuko to follow. Making their way outside, they both saw with horror that many other homes and dojos had been set ablaze. They could make out multiple flaming arrows emerging from all directions, hitting their targets dead on and forcing people out into the dirt streets of the village.

"They're here," Zuko whispered with horror. He felt Katara suddenly grab his arm out of fear.

"We have to do something," she said, her voice a bit shaky as she watched the chaos unfold around her. "We have to help!" she shouted and suddenly ran towards one of the burning buildings where she saw someone trying to lead a family out of the danger of the increasing flames.

"Katara! Don't, it's too dangerous!" Zuko shouted after her. He started to follow after her but quickly stopped and stepped back as many people ran past him in a panic, nearly knocking him over as they did. He caught sight of Katara through the panic-stricken villagers, helping a group of children make their way out of the burning building. He looked around to try and spot Natsu but apparently he had run off somewhere to help with the situation.

"Enlei! No, please, let go of me, my son is still in there!"

Zuko turned his head in the direction of the screaming and his eyes came across two men holding a horrified woman back by the arms. It seemed that she was trying to flee into a burning home, but Zuko could see that the entire building was engulfed in flames, making it a terrible risk to go inside.

"You can't go in there, it's too dangerous!" one of the men shouted frantically as he tightened his hold on the woman's arms.

"No, please let me go! I have to get my son! ENLEI!" the woman cried.

Zuko half-ran towards the woman, a hand placed over his wound. He mentally noted that that name actually sounded familiar. "There's just one person in there?" he asked as he approached the woman. She looked towards the Prince in alarm and nodded her head.

"Y-Yes, my son! He's still inside!"

"Alright."

Zuko turned towards the burning building and walked towards the entrance, noticing instantly that the door was blocked by an angry field of fire.

"Zuko, stop!" he heard Natsu call from behind him somewhere, but he didn't bother turning around. "Zuko!"

Zuko mentally rolled his eyes as he held out his hand towards the flames. Just because he was wounded didn't mean he still couldn't bend.

The flames instantly parted, creating a clear path for Zuko to follow. He kept his eyes on the ceiling, which was also ablaze. The roof could easily cave in at any moment. The fire on the floor was no problem for him to handle, but a roof or beam falling on his head could easily be fatal.

"Enlei!" he shouted, hoping to get a response, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to hear anything through the roaring fire. "Enlei!" he tried again as he stepped into another room.

"In here!" he heard a child shout, though it was very faint. He jumped from side to side as parts of the roof began collapsing. It was only a matter of time before the entire thing caved in.

"Where?!" Zuko shouted through the flames.

"Here!" he heard the child call back, and that was when Zuko spotted the closet, which for the moment, was the only thing not ablaze. He rushed towards the closet and slid the door open with haste. There, sitting on the floor with his knees drawn to his chin was Enlei, his eyes wide with fear. Zuko instantly recognized him as the little boy who had been in the infirmary when they had first come to the village. "You're that firebender," he said.

"It's alright," Zuko said sternly as he bent down to pick the child up, wincing as his wound protested his body's moments. "Here, just put your arms around my neck."

The small boy stood and secured his arms around Zuko's neck, burying his face into the crook of his neck to keep from inhaling the smoke. "Put your legs around my waist. I need to keep one hand free so I can keep the flames out of our path."

The boy did as Zuko instructed and the fire bender wrapped one arm around him while he kept his other hand free to control the fire. He jumped back just in time as another part of the roof collapsed in front of him. He stepped around it, keeping his eyes on the engulfed ceiling incase any other parts of the roof were ready to collapse.

"Zuko!"

"I'm coming out!"

As Zuko passed through the bedroom he saw Natsu making his way through the wild blaze. "I could kill you!" he shouted once he saw his cousin making his way out with the child. He quickly ran up behind him and led him out, trying to shield Zuko's body from anymore falling debris.

As soon as they stepped through the doorway the woman cried out in joy once she saw her child safe in Zuko's arms, and apparently unharmed. "Bless you," she said as she pulled her son from his arms and smothered him with kisses.

"Mom, I'm okay. Stop kissing me!"

"Zuko, are you out of your mind?" Natsu asked, turning his cousin around to face him.

"I'm not a child," Zuko groaned, trying to ignore his cousin as he tried to spot Katara again.

"You're already wounded enough as it is. What if the roof had caved in on you?"

"Well, it didn't, okay?! I'm fine, now where's Katara?"

Natsu looked around for a moment. He caught a streak of blue of the corner of his eye and he quickly turned his head in hopes of spotting the water bender. "There she is."

Zuko looked anxiously in the direction that Natsu was pointing and saw that Katara was frantically making her way towards the well. "Katara!" he shouted as he began making his way towards her, trying not to run. "What're you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Katara snapped as she held her hands over the well. "I just hope there's enough water in here."

"I thought you weren't that good at bending," said Zuko, though he hadn't intended to make it sound like a snide remark.

"Bite your tongue," said Katara as she tried with all the effort she could muster to summon the water that rested at the bottom of the well. She knew it was there; she could hear it churning as it tried to rise up. "Come on, water!"

Zuko suddenly stepped back when he saw the water begin to rise up, much to Katara's relief. "Okay, please don't let me screw up," she said to herself as she started sprinting towards one of the burning buildings, carrying the long stream of water with her without it ever once dropping to the ground. She knew her abilities were not great and still had a lot of room for improvement, but she prayed that she would be able to make what little bit of skills she had stretch in this moment of chaos.

She let out a loud grunt as she tossed the water amongst the flames, trying to aim for the roof since the flames were licking dangerously close to the looming trees. If those caught on fire then…well, she really didn't want to think about that.

The water was able to dowse most the flames but she couldn't get all of it. Turning on her heels she raced back to the well to conjure up more water. Zuko watched her intently as she raced back forth between the well and the burning house, trying desperately to put out the fire before the flames spread to the trees, but eventually his attention turned to the forest. The YuuYan archers were the source of the flaming arrows, that much he knew, but where was Zhao? He had obviously used the YuuYan archers to stir up the villagers and get everyone distracted to he could make his move. Apparently, the soldiers who had went to set guard to the village were no match to the archers' swift arrows.

Bringing his attention back to the village, Zuko caught sight of a group of earthbenders loosening the dirt and tossing it onto the flames of the burning homes, hoping it would work just as well as water. He felt his heart grow heavy with helplessness. The feeling that he should be doing something to help right now plagued him, despite the fact that he had just saved a child from certain death.

"Zuko!"

The firebender turned his head in the direction of the voice, momentarily forgetting about Katara. He saw Natsu standing off a few feet from him, standing partially sideways and looking as though he was ready to bolt into the mass chaos going on around him.

"You wanna help?" he asked, as though sensing the Prince's distress. "Come on! You're a firebender. How 'bout helping to control the fire rather than spreading it, huh?!" his cousin shouted, offering him a smile of reassurance. Zuko nodded firmly and followed his cousin towards one of the burning homes. "We need to stop these fires before they spread to the forest. Stand about five feet behind me," Natsu instructed. Zuko nodded and got into position. "Alright, I'm going to pull the flames a little bit at a time from the building, and I'm going to pass them back to you. Once you have the fire in your control I want you to shoot it up into the air that way it'll disperse, but make sure you don't strike any nearby trees, understand?"

Zuko nodded and readied himself. Natsu passed the first stream of flames on to him and he quickly lifted his arms and shot the fire into the air, where it instantly faded away without the aid of organic fuel to keep it alive. He tried to spot Katara out of the corner of his eye but Natsu was passing him another stream of flames every six seconds; it was impossible to spot the water bender through the dozens of villagers running this way and that.

"Alright, let's move to the next house!" Natsu shouted as he sprinted towards the building burning just a few yards away. The two fire benders got into position again, but just as Natsu was ready to pass on the first stream of flames to his cousin, they both heard a loud, frantic scream.

"That's Katara!" Zuko cried out as he ran full speed towards the direction of the horrified cry, barely even acknowledging the burning, piercing pain his sprinting was causing. He didn't even bother to look behind him to see if Natsu was following. At that moment he had completely forgotten about his cousin. The only thing he cared about at that moment was Katara.

He spotted her just up ahead, and standing right behind her was Zhao, who was fighting to keep her in his grasp. Zuko gritted his teeth in rage as he ran towards the man, fist raised. Before Zhao had time to even realize the Prince was in front of him he was on the ground, his hand flying up to cover his now bloody nose.

"Are you alright?" Zuko asked Katara as he pulled her away and looked her over.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, he just surprised me when he grabbed me."

As Zhao got to his feet again Zuko quickly pushed Katara behind him, his face now harboring a look of murder rather than concern for the waterbender.

"Well, there you are," the man drawled as he wiped the blood from his nose. "Even when injured you can still pack a punch."

"This is just like you, Zhao. Set a peaceful village ablaze in order to draw me out."

"It worked, didn't it? You may have escaped death once, but you won't this time, Zuko. Or should I say Blue Spirit?"

Zuko felt the color drain from his face. He could hear Katara questioning him, but he couldn't open his mouth to speak. How the hell did he…?

"Yes, Zuko. It seems to me you are quite skillful in the art of treason, aren't you? Now I have more of a reason to destroy you."

Zhao's face flashed with alarm when his eyes landed upon a young man approaching Zuko and Katara from behind, looking a bit disturbed by the older man's presence. "Natsu, is that you?" Zhao asked, furrowing his brow. "So, you're alive, too. What a coincidence."

"Leave this place, Zhao!" Natsu barked. "Leave this village in peace!"

"Don't make me laugh, boy. You're just as weak as your failure of a father, and a traitor just like your cousin."

"Bastard," Natsu growled as he took a step forward, but Zuko held his arm out in his path to stop him.

"I'm not leaving until I have his body," Zhao breathed dangerously as he started to approach the Prince, but he was suddenly knocked off his feet as a stream of water came in contact with his chest with a loud crack. Zuko turned behind him and noticed Katara standing a few feet off to his left, in a fighting stand and a stream of water at her control.

"Come on!" Zuko yelled as he grabbed Katara by the arm and pulled her along. Natsu followed after them.

"You two try and find someplace to hide! I can stay and fight Zhao and his goons!"

"You can't do it alone!" Zuko shot back. "I just need to find a place for Katara and I'll help you deal with him!"

"Excuse me?!" Katara shouted, taking offense. "I can fight, too, you know!" She stopped running and wrenched herself out of Zuko's grasp. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't fight!"

"It has nothing to do with that!" Zuko yelled back, though there was still reason in his voice. "You're still learning how to bend! Your skills are still that of a beginner! Don't you see?"

"Didn't you just see me knock that moron to the ground?"

Zuko heaved a sigh of annoyance. "I know that, but that was a lucky shot. Zhao's attention was focused on me, not you. He could have easily deflected that attack if he had been paying attention. Believe it or not, Zhao's after you, too. He wants you for the same reasons I did!"

"I'll be fine!"

"No, you wo-"

The horrified screams brought their attention away from each other and bringing their argument to an end. Katara's hand flew to her mouth when she saw Zhao's men flow into the village, drawing their swords and attacking innocent villagers at random. It was all too familiar to her; she almost saw her own people running about in a panic, trying to protect their families.

As Zuko watched the gruesome display, he suddenly realized with horror just what his country had been doing to the world for the past century.

------------------------------

Iroh tried to sip another cup of tea in hopes of salvaging some form of relaxation but his nerves were now more unsettled than ever. He had maybe slept but about two hours since his nephew and the waterbender had fled to the island. His eyes were blurry and stung from the extreme lack of sleep, but his worry grew more and more as the hours passed. He looked towards the lieutenant and his frown deepened. "Lt. Jee, please, you must be exhausted. Try to get some rest. Everyone else has gone off to sleep, there is no point in staying out here."

"I am just as worried as you are, sir. Sleep is the last thing on my mind," the other man replied, but Iroh could still detect the exhaustion in his tone.

Pushing his unfinished tea aside, Iroh stood up from his stool and walked over towards the railing of the ship for about the tenth time that evening. "What a strange case of irony the ocean spirit is demonstrating this evening. Just look at the water. Look how calm it is. If I didn't know any better, I would say this ship is resting on glass. The sea is calm but there is so much agitation around it…and I only fear that things will worsen as time creeps on."

"I believe they already have, sir," Iroh heard Jee say from the other side of the ship. He turned and made his way towards the younger man who he saw had his gaze settled on something in the sky. Iroh narrowed his eyes and was just barely able to make out the black smoke rising into the night sky.

"Agni, help us."

TBC…

* * *

**A/N: **Well, it's been a while since I updated this fic, but not nearly as long as last time. I think this chapter was a bit better than the last but in my opinion it still sucks DX And also...it's pretty short, and for that I apologize. But here's the good news: Aang and Sokka appear next chapter. Been a while since we've seen them, huh? And on a totally different note…OMG season 3!! ALDFJALKDJFLSK!1! 


	20. The Capture

_Chapter XX_

**The Capture**

"Oh man…" Sokka's eyes widened when he noticed the smoke rising into the sky, but what also held his attention more firmly was the cluster of Fire Nation ships floating nearby.

"Do you think Katara's there?" Aang asked, looking more towards the island.

"I'm not sure, but look at that." Sokka pointed towards the smaller ship which they saw was surrounded by a circle of larger ships. "That looks odd, don't you think?"

"Isn't that Zuko's ship?" Aang asked as he, too, looked at the ship more thoroughly. Sokka looked to the rising smoke again, instantly making his decision.

"I can't be sure if Katara's on that island, but we have to find out. And firebenders obviously are, and right now they're reeking havoc. We won't land right in the middle of everything. We should land somewhere several hundred yards away, in a more wooded area, and _away _from those Fire Nation ships. We can't risk being spotted."

Aang nodded as he pulled the reins to the left. "Come on, Appa! Yip yip!"

0ooooooo0

Lt. Jee noticed the dramatic change in Iroh's expression as he looked up towards the sky. "What is it?" he asked.

"I…" Iroh tried to keep his voice quiet, not wanting his words to drift over to one of the patrolling soldiers on the decks of the other ships. "I could have sworn I saw the Avatar's bison just now," he whispered. Jee looked surprised for a moment.

"Is that good or bad, sir?"

Iroh began stroking his beard, still looking agitated. "I'm not sure. It could be good for my nephew and the young waterbender…but with Admiral Zhao around…it could be very bad."

0ooooooo0

Appa made a noisy landing in the forest, some distance way from the rising smoke, which both Aang and Sokka knew had to be a village. It was customary of the Fire Nation to move in and set fire to every village they could find, for no reason at all really.

"Do you think they saw us?" Aang asked as he floated down to the ground gracefully.

"Well, no fireballs were shot at us, so I'm guessing they didn't….I hope." Sokka grabbed his club before hopping out of Appa's saddle. "We need to hurry."

"Appa, you and Momo stay here and just stay hidden, okay, boy?" Aang ruffled the fur on Appa's head, and the large bison gave a loud grunt in reply to his instruction. "Don't worry, we'll be careful."

"Aang…get over here."

Aang looked towards Sokka, who he noticed was standing in front of a tree, staring at something with a somewhat alarmed expression. When Aang came closer, he realized that it was a blue piece of cloth, which was pinned to the tree by an arrow. "You don't think…"

Sokka grabbed the arrow and yanked it from the tree. He pulled the torn piece of cloth from the head of the arrow and examined it carefully. "This is Katara's. No doubt," he said firmly as he caressed the fabric with his thumb.

"Sokka, let me see that arrow."

Sokka handed the younger boy the arrow as he requested and watched curious as he examined the weapon with a look of familiarity. "What is it?"

"This arrow….it belongs to the YuuYan archers."

Sokka blinked. "Who? I don't think I've ever heard of them. How do you know the arrow belongs to them?"

Aang sighed, trying to push the memory of being held captive in a Fire Nation fortress out of his head, a memory that he had not revealed to Sokka and Katara. "Trust me, I know. And it's obvious that Katara _is _here, and we need to find her."

The airbender looked up towards the canopy and suddenly leapt up into the trees, disappearing from sight. When he returned seconds later, he jerked a thumb behind him and said, "That's where we need to head."

0ooooooo0

"I've got to stop them!"

Before Zuko could even utter a response Natsu had taken off into the crowd, disappearing in the mass of frantic villagers. Zuko couldn't go after him; protecting Katara was his biggest priority at the moment, and he could hardly fight as it was, but he still stepped up to the plate when one of Zhao's soldiers approached them, spear at the ready. When he began to charge, Zuko maneuvered his arm at the right moment to where he was able to break the head of the spear from its staff, much like had when Sokka had attacked him back at the South Pole months back. He grabbed the broken end and forced it into the soldier's stomach, knocking him off his feet.

"What do we do now?" Katara asked, keeping as close to Zuko as she could.

"Flee," Zuko stated softly.

"What? Flee? But shouldn't we stay and help?"

Zuko sighed. "Zhao's after us. If we flee this place, he'll follow us."

"But flee to where? We're on an island, where could we possibly go?"

Zuko's hands grabbed his head in frustration. Yes, go where? That was the question. Where _could _they go? If they fled it would just be another game of cat and mouse, but if it meant leading Zhao and his men out of the village then it was worth it. Or so he supposed. Worst of all, the guilt of knowing it was their fault for leading Zhao straight to these people was unbearable.

"Zuko?" Katara yelled, shaking his arm impatiently. Whatever the decision was to be had needed to be made fast, but Zuko could barely think straight through the bloodcurdling screaming.

Screaming…

Zuko turned his head sharply, knowing who the scream belonged to, though looking was something he wished his instincts did not persuade him to do.

The sight was nothing short of gruesome. Natsu stood with his mouth agape, a river of blood trickling from the corner of his lip and his face twisted in a horrible grimace of pain. The source was evident - the blade of a sword which protruded from his chest, its entry point being his back. Zuko didn't even remember the events that followed. He didn't remember running, he didn't remember Katara screaming at him, he didn't remember grabbing a bloody, discarded dagger from the ground, and he didn't remember taking a swipe at Zhao's neck The older man managed to step back, pulling the sword from Natsu's back as he went, and only received a small gash across his throat. He was, however, knocked off his feet after being hit in the abdomen by a boulder, supplied by an earthbending soldier.

At that time, Zuko had forgotten about Zhao. He had also forgotten about Katara. He forgot about everything, including the chaos going on around him and where he was at that moment. The only thing he could acknowledge was Natsu lying on the ground, blood going every which way.

"Zuko…" he whispered, though the blood flow in his mouth made it difficult to talk.

"Don't…don't say anything," said Zuko softly. Oh how he wanted to say everything was going to be alright but he knew it was a lie.

"Listen…tell…Tell him…I'm sorry."

Zuko nodded, knowing exactly who Natsu was referring to, though the thought of explaining to him the death of his son made his stomach churn.

"I will…I promise I will."

Zuko saw Natsu try to smile, but the life quickly left his eyes and he exhaled his last breath. Lifting a trembling hand, Zuko shut Natsu's eyes. Strangely, everything seemed silent, despite the screaming and crying that went on all around him. Katara's voice was also amongst the screaming, but he couldn't hear her; he couldn't hear anything…but he saw Zhao. He saw Zhao getting to his feet and walking towards him with determined strides. Zuko didn't even register the thought of grabbing the bloody sword before the older man could reach it.

"You're next," he said.

"Zuko, get up!" Katara screamed as she knelt down by the Prince and hauled him to his feet. She dragged him along but she could see that he was still in shock. "Zuko, come o-" Before she could finish she found herself on the ground, Zuko landing on top of her with a loud grunt. It was at that moment that reality seemed to return to him, and he suddenly realized the severe danger they were in. He looked up to see Zhao advancing towards them, sword in hand, and then found his vision blocked as Katara got in front of him, trying with weak effort to protect him. "Get away!" she screeched, tears welling up.

Suddenly, Zhao's path was cut off as a rock wall emerged from the ground, rising ten feet in the air, and just in the nick of time, too. Zuko and Katara looked around frantically for the person responsible for the earth's unnatural movement, but who they spotted was not who they had been expecting.

"Kai-Ying?" Katara whispered in shock. "You're an earth-"

"Go!" the woman shouted. Katara could see that her face was blackened from smoke, indicating that she had fled into burning buildings to help the villagers escape, but it also made the tear stains more noticeable.

"Kai-Ying…"

Kai-Ying pointed behind her. "Follow this dirt path! It'll bring you to a dock where you'll find an old rowboat. Just hurry! We can hold them off!"

"But-"

"Go!"

Katara grabbed Zuko by the arm and hauled him to his feet. She didn't say another word, nor did she even look at Kai-Ying as she dragged Zuko along. All that mattered to her was getting out of this alive. But once they got in that boat, where were they supposed to go? Make their way back to Zuko's ship which was "conveniently" barricaded by Zhao's fleet? Perhaps they could take the boat and flee to another part of the island, but that would be like starting over from the beginning.

"Where are you guys?" Katara whispered, referring to Sokka and Aang. She looked up as she felt a raindrop fall on her face. There came another, and then another, until finally it started pouring, soaking the earth and everything else around them. Katara actually felt relieved as her element began to fall from the sky. Perhaps it would help aid the village of the fires engulfing their homes.

"Where are we going?" Zuko whispered. Katara looked down at him in surprise. Hadn't he heard what Kai-Ying had said?

"I'm…I'm not really sure," the waterbender answered.

The sun began to rise.

0ooooooo0

Keeping up with Aang was hard work, even for Sokka. The little bald monk leapt from tree to tree in a haste while Sokka tried desperately to keep up from the ground. Getting smacked in the face by low tree branches didn't make the job any easier.

"Aang, slow down!"

Sokka felt something wet touch his forehead, but he didn't dare look up while he had to stay more focused on watching where he was going in the condensed forest. He was able to catch just the slightest hint of daylight through the trees. He couldn't believe how fast the night had flown by, and he couldn't believe he didn't feel the least bit tired, especially seeing as how it had been over twenty four hours since he had last slept. The thought of finding his sister gave him that extra pep that he needed.

"How much further?"

"I'm not sure!" Aang called down from above. "We've only been running for about ten minutes! I'd say we still got about another mile to go!"

0ooooooo0

Zuko wrenched himself from Katara's grip and went to go sit on an old tree stump residing by the dirt path. Katara noticed his hand go to rest atop his wound, which she figured was becoming irritated from all the running. Taking a short rest couldn't hurt; they had been running for almost ten minutes. But a _very _short rest.

Katara went to stand beside Zuko as he tried to catch his breath, though she couldn't stop glancing behind her, afraid that someone might be chasing after them. She was ready for this nightmare to be over with. She was ready to hear Sokka's nagging, sarcastic voice, she was ready to see Aang's happy, cheerful smile, she was ready to be hundreds of feet in the air, riding atop Appa's saddle. She was ready to have it all back, but the only thing that put a hitch in her desire was the troubled teen sitting next to her. What of Zuko? What were his plans now? Where was he supposed to go? Was he doomed to just live life at sea for the rest of his life?

"Let's go," the firebender muttered as he stood up from the stump and continued on. Katara quickly followed after him, deciding it would be better to ask Zuko what his plans were once they were in the clear. Now certainly wasn't the time.

0ooooooo0

Aang landed gracefully on the now soft, squishy earth. The rain was coming down rather heavily now, but he hardly acknowledged it, despite the goosebumps he felt forming through the fabric of his sleeve. Sokka came to stand beside him, trying to catch his breath. They both stared at the village below them, surrounded by steam and smoke.

"We're taking a big risk here," said Sokka. "With all these firebenders around…"

"It's a risk we have to take," Aang stated firmly, his grip on his staff tightening.

"Right. Let's hurry."

0ooooooo0

It was hard to keep running, especially for Zuko. His still healing wounds were screaming in agony, and Katara's chest felt as though it was on fire. They weren't sure how long they had been running; it was hard to think about anything except survival, but when they finally reached the shore and saw the boat turned over in the sand at the foot of the dock, they both felt like weeping from joy and relief.

Zuko grabbed the only oar he could find, which was almost completely buried in the sand, and Katara turned the boat over on its bottom.

"Looks like this is a lifeboat from an Earth Kingdom ship," said Katara.

"Is it in good condition?"

"Looks like it."

"Alright, well let's hurry. Help me push it into the water."

Both Zuko and Katara got on either side of the boat and pushed it through the sand and into the shallow, lapping water. Once they got in, Katara used her bending to their advantage by commanding the water to push them out further into deeper water. They appeared to be in a small gulf, with plenty of large rocks jutting from the surface of the water all around them.

"Maybe we should try and hide behind one of those."

Zuko shrugged. "I don't know. It's a bit foggy. We could try returning to the ship." He suddenly shook his head. "No, that's stupid. Zhao has my ship surrounded. Where would we go?" The Prince angrily shoved the oar into the water and started pushing the boat along, but winced as it brought pain to his wound. Katara noticed this instantly.

"Here, I can just bend the water and push us along. You should rest."

Without a word, Zuko angrily tossed the oar aside and turned his back to Katara, who watched him with remorse. She got up and approached him slowly, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder. Once the contact was made Zuko quickly took her hand and tossed it aside. Sighing, Katara sat down again and urged the boat further out into the water, all while watching Zuko sadly.

"Zuko, I'm really sorry about Natsu."

"How am I going to tell Uncle? How am I supposed to tell someone that their only son is dead? Why? Why did this have to happen?"

Katara moved to embrace him again. She slinked an arm around his back while placing the other on his shoulder. "It'll be alright." She inwardly winced, wishing she could offer more reassuring words. She understood Zuko's pain, and yet she didn't know what she could say that could offer him some source of comfort. She prayed yet again for Aang and Sokka's arrival.

0ooooooo0

Both Aang and Sokka took a moment to gape at the chaos. Many of the homes which once housed the numerous villagers were now reduced to practically nothing, and even the ones that hadn't completely burned to the ground were hardly salvageable. Thankfully, the rain had helped put an end to the fires before they could further spread.

Aang gripped his staff in both hands and charged into the village after spotting a soldier preparing to make a fatal blow to a wounded villager. Swinging his staff forward with a loud battle cry, he sent a powerful gust of wind at the soldier, which successfully knocked the man completely off his feet and sent him slamming into a tree. The wounded villager looked up in alarm, amazed and startled at the skill used to bring down the firebender.

"The Avatar!" he cried happily. "The Avatar has returned!"

Sokka winced, as did Aang. Now every firebender's attention was directed towards them, but it hardly mattered. They would have realized it soon enough anyhow.

Aang repeated his defense on every soldier who so much as took a step near him, while Sokka accompanied his attacks with a throw of his boomerang, which always hit its target. Both boys scanned the area for Katara as they fought, but saw her nowhere. It didn't look like there was a place she could hide that hadn't already been burned to the ground. Maybe she hadn't been on the island at all….Well, no, she _had _to have been on the island. The tattered piece of cloth they had found belonged to her, no doubt, and both Sokka and Aang knew that that had been Zuko's ship that they had seen floating nearby. Katara had to be somewhere nearby. It all added up.

"Katara!" Aang shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I don't think she's here!" Sokka shouted back as he swung his boomerang.

"We can't be sure! And we can't just stand here, either! We have to look! Come on!"

Before Aang had time to move forward, an arm hooked itself around his neck. "You're not going anywhere."

"Aan-" Sokka was cut off as a soldier snuck up behind him and forced his hands behind his back, causing him to drop his boomerang.

"So, you thought you could escape me," Zhao drawled, smiling wickedly as Aang squirmed under his grip.

"Let. Me. Go!"

"You got lucky the last time, monk, but you won't be escaping this time."

Sokka furrowed his brows at the Admiral's words. "Aang, what's he talking about?"

"Oh, he didn't tell you? Well, I captured him once before, but he had a little help…from a certain banished prince."

"What? Aang, why didn't you tell us?"

"It wasn't important, okay?"

"ENOUGH! You're _both _coming with me, and I'm going to personally see to it that-AARGH!"

Sokka nearly doubled over with laughter when he saw Momo pounce upon Zhao's head and started scratching at this scalp relentlessly.

"GET IT OFF!"

Zhao swung his arm in an effort to knock the little lemur off his head, but the creature had already leapt off of him and quickly burrowed itself underneath Aang's clothes. "Momo what are-"

The lemur emerged seconds later with Aang's bison whistle secured between his teeth. The airbender smiled knowingly as he watched the little creature fly off into the forest just as quick as he had come.

Growling, Zhao roughly forced Aang's hands behind his back. "Let's go," he spat. One of the soldiers took the boys' discarded weapons and followed after the Admiral. Meanwhile the Yuu Yan archers waited patiently in the woods close by and only made movement when they saw Zhao and his men return.

"Back to the ship," he commanded. "I have what I want."

0ooooooo0

Time drifted on as they floated in the choppy water. Katara vaguely wonder if a storm could be approaching, but it wasn't long before her attention would be back on Zuko, who had remained silent for some time. She rubbed his back soothingly, but he made no response. What made it harder for her to bear was that he refused to look at her. She wanted to say something…anything, but her lips couldn't process a suitable phrase. The only thing she could do was continue to rub his back and remain silent.

They had drifted along through the water for some time. The fog seemed to be getting heavier and the air was getting chillier. Katara figured Zuko must have been getting cold, too, for she felt his body heat intensify ever so slightly. This caused her to move closer to him, as she was eager for warmth.

"How long have we been floating here?" Zuko said after a long period of silence.

"I'm not sure. Quite a while."

Katara shifted slightly from her current position and moved the boat along through the water. "We can't keep sitting here," she said. "But…I'm not really sure where we're supposed to go," she said as she tried with a great deal of effort to seek out what ever she could through the thickness of the fog. They were more out in the open now, away from the small gulf, but Katara still saw nothing. She looked back at Zuko for a moment, but saw that he hadn't moved an inch, and continued to let his head hang in sorrow. It was a sight Katara couldn't bear to look at any longer. She felt just as hopeless as Zuko looked, and wondered if there was any salvation to be had in this ordeal, or when it would finally come. But then she saw it - the outline of the ship approaching them. Her heart fluttered with a mixture of hope and fear.

"Z-Zuko…"

The Prince turned his head slightly, and a look of relief spread across his face. "It's my ship, don't worry."

They waited patiently as the ship approached them, becoming more and more clear through the fog. The large vessel eventually slowed to a stop as it neared the little boat carrying the two teens. Katara smiled with relief as she saw Iroh lean over the railing of the ship. "Are you two alright?" he shouted.

"I'm fine!" Katara shouted back. "But Zuko's been severely injured!"

Iroh wasted no time and quickly tossed a ladder over the side of the railing. Katara went first, carefully grabbing the rope as she set one foot onto the wooden plank, and then Zuko followed after, dreading the moment he stepped onto the deck of the ship where he would face his uncle.

Lt. Jee stepped forward and helped Katara over the side. "How did you know we were here?" she asked. Iroh smiled.

"We got a little tip."

Momo suddenly appeared out of nowhere and flung himself into Katara's arms, who squealed happily at seeing a familiar face. "Momo!" she cried happily and hugged the little creature to her chest tightly.

"He must have spotted you from the air, and then came to get us. Such an intelligent creature, I must say. And…he also had this with him."

"That means Sokka and Aang are nearby!" she cried, but Iroh's face suddenly fell. "What? What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid….both the Avatar and your brother have been abducted."

"What?" Katara nearly let Momo slip from her grasp. "No! No, please tell me you're lying!"

Iroh sighed. "I'm afraid I'm not, child. And I assume it may have something to do with why the lemur carried this with him." The elder firebender held his hand out, revealing the bison whistle resting in his palm.

"That's Aang's bison whistle. Appa must still be back on the island." Katara took the whistle in her hand. "How long ago did Zhao and his men leave?"

"About half an hour ago."

Katara looked down towards the deck of the ship. "I didn't realize we had been floating in that boat for so long." She looked back up with hopeful eyes. "Do you think we could catch up?"

"Possibly."

Katara looked at the whistle in her palm again. "But if we can't….then Appa may be our next best solution."

Iroh made his way over to Zuko, who he saw was leaning against the railing with his hand against his abdomen and appeared to be in pain. He lovingly embraced him, but made sure to be gentle, as he was not sure of the location of Zuko's wounds. "Well, perhaps we could pose as a distraction," Iroh said back to Katara. "And you can fly in on the bison and…no, no I am being completely ridiculous. It would be too much of a risk for you." Iroh noticed how Zuko refused to look him in the eye. "Are you alright, Prince Zuko? Where are you injured?"

Zuko exhaled and lifted up the tail of his vest, revealing the stitches. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

"You _would _say something that foolish, Zuko," the old Prince replied sternly, looking over the stitched wound.

Katara quickly got back on the subject of saving Aang and her brother. "How long would it take for Zhao to reach the Fire Nation?"

Iroh's face hardened as he thought it over for a moment. "Almost two days," he said. Katara quickly put the whistle to her lips and blew as hard as she could. Both Iroh and Zuko winced slightly, assuming that the whistle would make a loud, ear-piercing noise, but it hardly made a sound at all.

"I think it's broken," stated Zuko. Katara smiled and stifled a laugh as she remembered her brother had assumed the same thing back when Aang had first purchased the whistle.

"No, it's not, trust me."

Moments later they all looked up as they heard the loud grunting of the sky bison overhead, making its way towards the ship. Katara smiled brightly as the large creature prepared for a landing on deck. "We'll catch up with them first," she stated as she went over to stroke the bison's fur. "And once we do…I'll take Appa up into the clouds where they won't see us and I'll swoop in on them," she said with confidence.

"Oh?" Zuko responded rather cockily. "And what if there's not a cloud in sight to offer you cover? And what are you supposed to do once you make it on deck? They'll kill you!"

Katara felt her face grow hot with anger. "Then what do you suggest I do then, Zuko?"

"You're not going without me is what I'm saying."

Iroh looked at his nephew in alarm. "No, Prince Zuko! You are severely injured and you need to rest!"

"I'll be fine."

"No, I cannot allow this."

"I told you I'll be fine!"

Iroh stepped back and sighed he had not the energy nor the patience to argue with his nephew. "We shall talk about this later. Right now we should get you to the infirmary and check those stitches."

Katara turned back to Appa and happily snuggled against his fur, happy to see her large, furry friend again, while Iroh motioned for Zuko to follow him into the infirmary.

"Wait, Uncle…before we do that…there's something I need to tell you."

TBC…


	21. Comfort

__

Chapter XXI

****

Comfort

Zuko had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to break the news to his uncle. For so many years Iroh had hoped and prayed that his son may still be alive, and that he would some day be reunited with him. It was something he never lost hope in, and Zuko could only imagine how he would feel knowing that his son _had _been alive, but was now gone forever, no hope of returning.

"Here, Miss Katara, I thought you might like this," said the old retired general as he handed the young water bender the glass dragon that Zuko had purchased for her several days ago. "I think it's only suiting that you be given a more comfortable room. I'm sure you would like to rest for a while. You look quite exhausted."

Katara took the dragon from the old man and clutched it against her chest. "No, I….I should really get on Appa right now and go after Aang and my brother. I can't wait anymore. We may never catch them at this rate."

Iroh put his hands on Katara's shoulders to calm her. "Try and rest up first. And you also need something to eat."

Lieutenant Ji took over at that point and escorted Katara to her new room. Iroh next turned to Zuko and took him by the arm.

"Let's go, Zuko. We really need to inspect that wound."

"I'm fine, Uncle," the Prince responded solemnly.

"Oh, you always say that."

Zuko sighed in annoyance. "Uncle, I really need to talk to you."

"In a moment, Zuko. First we'll look over those wounds, and then we'll have a nice, hot cup of tea and you can tell me whatever it is you need to tell me."

--

Katara stepped into her new room and had a seat on her new, much more comfortable bed. The second her rump heat the mattress, she suddenly realized how exhausted she really was. She looked toward the pillow longingly, but quickly shook the thought of taking a nice long nap out of her mind. "No, I have to rescue Aang and Sokka. I can't sit around like this."

The waterbender quickly jumped to her feat but Lt. Ji pushed her gently back down onto the bed.

"Calm down, child," he said. "Despite how fast Zhao's ship is, it'll still take him a couple of days to reach the Fire Nation. We have time, and you need to take that time to rest up and get something to eat. You're going to need your strength."

"We have a better chance catching them on Appa. We should just go ahead and go now."

Ji had to push Katara back down again.

"Just wait. Eat something first, and rest for a few hours. You can leave tonight. You'd have better luck traveling at night since it'll be harder for anyone to spot you. So just wait. You won't have any luck if you're tired."

"Alright," Katara replied quietly.

"It's kind of cold in here. I should really get this furnace going."

The man walked towards the small furnace in the corner of the room and opened up the door. "As soon as I get this going here I'll get you something to eat."

"Thanks."

"There we go. Should be warm in here in a few minutes." Ji shut the door and stood to fetch Katara something to eat. "Bowl of dumplings okay?"

"Sure."

Just as Ji made it to the doorway, Katara quickly spoke up, asking the man a question she wasn't so sure he could answer honestly.

"Wait," she began. "Um…I wanted to ask you something. Ugh…do you…honestly wish the war would end?"

It was plain to see that Ji was not at all surprised by the question. In fact, he sighed, as though he had expected it. He leaned against the door frame and ran a rough, calloused hand through his graying hair. "Honestly…yes. After several years I came to realize that this war was the biggest mistake that ever was. There's no reason for it, and nothing has come out of it except pain and suffering. And as for me….I haven't seen my family in almost three years, and it's unbearable. I have a girl of my own, just a little older than you. But this war has forced me to be away from her, not seeing her grow up. Yes, I want this war to end."

Katara leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees as she stared at the metal floor. "Aang will need a firebending teacher eventually. This war _can _be over if Aang learns all the elements and defeats the Fire Lord."

"You're thinking Prince Zuko may teach him?" asked Ji. Katara shrugged.

"I wish he would. Finding a firebending teacher will be the hardest seeing as how every firebender on Earth wants to imprison Aang. Zuko's really our only option."

"I have a feeling if anyone can persuade him, it'll be you."

"I hope so."

--

After having checked over Zuko's wounds, and putting fresh bandages on his shoulder wound, the Prince quietly followed his uncle into Iroh's room, where a small table sat with a tea pot sitting on top of it. Zuko mentally laughed. He was certain his uncle had at least three different tea pots.

Iroh quickly set to work and started preparing the tea.

"It was hard enough having to sit back and pray that you two would make it out alive, but I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you. I was terrified you wouldn't make it out alive."

"Yeah, I kind of was, too," Zuko responded, taking a seat on the pillow in front of the table. He sat in silence for a moment, lightly tapping his index finger against the surface of the table. He knew what he wanted to say, but the words just would not come out. He watched his uncle wait eagerly for the tea to start steaming. The man had gone through enough stress over the last 24 hours. Finding out that his only son was dead would be twice as traumatic. Zuko pondered the thought of not even breaking the news to him. But then living in false hope for the rest of his life wouldn't do him any good. Knowing the truth would bring him closure, although for the next few days, it was going to be hell trying to digest the truth.

"Umm…Uncle?"

Iroh held up a finger. "Just a moment, it's almost ready," he said, beaming. He pulled two, small cups his way and lifted the kettle to fill them with the steaming liquid. "There we are," he said as he pushed one cup towards his nephew. "Now please drink. After what you've just been through, a nice hot cup of tea is what you need to relax."

Zuko smiled softly. Iroh and his tea. There was no way on Earth you could separate the man from his tea. Zuko took a sip just to please his uncle, then set the cup aside for a moment. It couldn't wait any longer.

"Listen, Uncle, there's something I need to tell you…and I honestly don't know how to say it."

A frown crossed Iroh's face, and Zuko found himself growing more fearful of how his uncle would take the horrible news. He gripped the edge of the table firmly, inhaling deeply.

"Natsu was there," Zuko finally said, followed by a deep exhale. Iroh's eyes widened as he set down his cup.

"Natsu…he _is _alive," he said with happiness, but then he looked rather puzzled. "But why didn't he come back with you? Was he ashamed? Does he have a family now? What kind of life does he have, Zuko? I must know."

"He wanted me to tell you he was sorry," replied Zuko, stalling as much as he could. "He didn't want to hurt you. The war was something he refused to take part in. It had nothing to do with you."

Iroh nodded in understanding, looking down at his cup of tea. "But why did he not come back with you?"

"He…"

Zuko tried to look anywhere but at his uncle. A lump began to form in his throat and he tried as hard as he could to swallow it. "Uncle, Natsu…he's dead. It was Zhao…he killed him."

The old man grew pale, and the usual twinkle his eyes harbored ceased to exist. "D-Dead…how…why..? No…" The man was at a loss of what to say. He suddenly found himself shaking his head rather aggressively. Emotions of many kinds raged through him: anger, hopelessness, sadness, and worst of all, regret. Iroh had done well to be a good father to his son, but the war had kept him away from him so much, and now to have learned that he'll never see him again made him feel lost and alone.

"Uncle, I'm really sorry. Are you alright?" Zuko felt compelled to go over and embrace his uncle, something he hardly did at all anymore, but he was almost afraid to approach him while he was in such a state of shock.

The poor man stared wide-eyed at the table, his right hand still lightly grasping his cup of tea as he tried to digest the horrible news of his son's death. "He's gone," he whispered. "There's…no hope anymore. He was right there. Right there on that island, just a couple of miles away from me…He was so close to me, and now I'll never see him again."

Zuko noticed Iroh's hand suddenly go to his chest and he abruptly stood up. "Uncle? Are you alright?"

"I…" Iroh looked to be in pain, and his grip on the cup suddenly tightly. The sharp pain in his chest only intensified and the grip he had on the cup became so great that the cup finally shattered, some of the shards actually embedding themselves into Iroh's palm, though that pain was nothing to what he was feeling in his chest. Before he knew it, he found himself falling over onto his side, Zuko's loud cries of "Uncle Iroh!" barely audible.

--

"Someone help!" came the Prince's loud cry through the metal halls. Ji had just prepared Katara a bowl of dumplings and a fresh loaf of bread to eat when he heard then teen's desperate cries for help. The Lieautenant set the tray of food down on a table and quickly exited the galley. He found the Prince running through the hall, his left hand pressed against his wound while he banged on every door in sight with his right.

"What is it, sir?" the Lieutenant asked loudly, making sure the Prince knew he had gotten someone's attention.

"It's Uncle Iroh! Something's wrong!"

Ji quickly followed Zuko's lead back to the Iroh's quarters, where they found the retired general lying on the floor still, slipping in and out of consciousness. "Here, help me lift him into bed and then you go find the healer."

With shaking hands, Zuko helped the lieutenant lift his uncle into his bed. He was barely conscious, and his breathing was shallow and uneven. A hand was placed right over his heart, and he grit his teeth in pain. Zuko wasted no time in trying to find the healer, though he nearly knocked Katara down on her butt as he sprinted through the halls.

"Zuko, what's going on?" she called out to him. Zuko skidded to a halt and turn around to look at her.

"It's my uncle. I…I don't know what's wrong. Something happened. He's sick, I don't know! I can't talk now!"

"Wait! Zuko!"

Zuko was already gone, leaving Katara alone, wondering what on earth had just happened. Whatever it was, it must have been very bad, judging by how panicked Zuko was. She figured she should stay in her room, but she needed to know what had just happened.

--

"Alright, what happened?" the healer asked as he stepped into the room, Zuko right on his heels.

"He went down. I have a feeling it might have been a heart attack," Ji replied. "You were there, sir. What exactly happened?" he asked Zuko.

Zuko tried to get himself together to actually answer the question. He felt as though he couldn't even stand up straight.

"Umm…well he…I…" Zuko took a deep breath. "It was his son," he began calmly. "Natsu…he's dead. Zhao killed him," he said with a shaky voice.

Ji looked shocked, obviously not expecting such an answer. "His son was on that island?"

"Y-Yeah. He's been there all this time." Zuko began pacing the room, unable to stay still.

"Well, Ji, your assumed diagnosis would be correct. It's very obvious that he had a heart attack."

"My uncle isn't old!" Zuko shouted. The healer sighed.

"Age isn't always the factor. Stress obviously played a key role here. With your uncle worrying about you for many hours, and finding out of his son's tragic death on top of that, it was a disaster waiting to happen. But since he's still hanging in there, I'd say it was only a minor one. But even so, he will need to stay in bed and rest for the next couple of days. I'm sure he'll be fine, just as long as he rests."

Zuko looked from the healer down to his uncle, whose breathing looked to be evening out now. His expression was not quite as pained as it had once been moments ago. Zuko then found himself starting to relax a little. He had been terrified that he was going to lose his uncle, too.

"We should all probably leave and let him rest," said Ji as he headed toward the door, followed by the healer. Zuko remained in the room, eyeing his uncle with concern. Iroh managed to crack one eye open and glance over at his nephew. He tried his best to force a smile.

"Do not worry, Zuko. I'll be just fine."

Zuko made his way towards his uncle's bed and knelt down, wincing as the movement brought pain to his wound. "Do you need anything?" he asked.

"No, no…I'll be fine."

Zuko heaved a sigh, then slowly stood up to leave the room and allow his uncle to get his much needed rest. He slowly closed the door on his way out, feeling more helpless than he had ever felt before. He didn't even notice Katara standing there on the other side of the door, staring at him with concern as he slowly took a sit on the steel floor.

"What happened?" the water bender asked as she knelt down next to Zuko.

"I told my uncle."

Katara was silent for a moment. It was clear that Iroh had not taken the news well. But then again, who would? However, judging by Zuko's look of anguish, it was clear that there was more to it than that.

"He had a heart attack," he said next.

Katara's eyes widened. "Oh no…No, is he alright?"

The Prince nodded. "I think he'll be alright. He just needs to rest." Zuko leaned back against the cold, metal wall, unable to bring himself to look at Katara.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Me?" the Prince replied with a hallow laugh. "I wish I knew. Seems like every time I turn around, I lose something. My mother, my honor, my home, Natsu…and now I've almost lost the only person who has ever been a real father to me. If I lose him…I…I won't have anything anymore. I'll be alone."

Katara moved a bit closer to Zuko, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder. "No, you're not alone. I'm here, remember?"

Zuko finally turned to face the waterbender. Looking down at her other hand, which was placed on his arm, he reached over and took it in his, squeezing it slightly. Katara pulled him close, letting his head rest against her shoulder. She felt him tremble slightly, and she was certain that he was crying. She had known that it was only a matter of time before the dam would crumble…and it had.

--

Zuko gazed out the window of his quarters, noting that the sun was beginning to set and that night was moments away. He knew they had to start preparing for the mission. He only hoped that his concern for his uncle did not distract him, otherwise the consequences could be deadly.

Speaking of his uncle, he figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to go check on his condition and to let it be known that it was time for him to depart, along with Katara.

He made his way down the hallway in somewhat of a daze, still not believing all the events that had happened in the last twelve hours. He knocked on his uncle's door twice before entering it, calling out to him softly. But his uncle was nowhere to be seen.

"Uncle? Uncle, where are you?"

Zuko began making his way down the hall in a haste, wondering where in the world his uncle could have gone. He shouldn't be up walking around. He need to stay in bed.

_'Maybe he's in the galley,' _Zuko thought. But a quick scan of the galley proved that his uncle wasn't there. He next started making his way towards the deck, figuring he had to be up there somewhere.

Sure enough, as soon as Zuko stepped out onto the deck, he saw his uncle standing over by the edge of the ship, staring out over the ocean. The large sky bison stood near him, nudging the man slightly with his nose. It was clear the animal could sense that the man was troubled.

"Uncle?"

Zuko slowly approached the man from behind and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Uncle, you shouldn't be out here. You should be back inside, resting."

"I've been resting for hours, Zuko. A man can only stay in a bed for so long without going insane."

Zuko came around to his uncle's right side, glancing out over the ocean with him. After a moment's pause, he turned and looked towards the man, and quickly took note that his uncle _was _aging, as much as he hated to admit it.

"I didn't even get to see him one last time," Iroh said suddenly. He then grit his teeth angrily, muttering a murderous, "If I ever see Zhao…" he gripped the railing, his knuckles turning white. "…I don't know what I'll do."

"Uncle…."

Iroh turned and looked towards his nephew, his face instantly softening. He held back his tears and slowly pulled the boy into an embrace. "But I should be thanking Agni that I still have you."

"I'm sorry, Uncle."

Iroh sighed. "This is all this war has done: just cause death and pain. This war was a mistake, and it needs to come to an end."

"Exactly how long have you felt this way?"

"Quite some time now."

Zuko looked puzzled. "I don't understand, Uncle, if you're against this war and want it to end…then why did you try to help me capture the Avatar?"

"There are some things, Zuko, that you need to discover for yourself. _You _had to find your own way. I could not do that for you. You had to find your own destiny. Soon, Zuko, you won't need me at all."

Zuko shook his head, smiling. "No, Uncle, I'll always need you."

TBC…

* * *

**A/N: **I am deeply sorry for the long wait. But as you all know, my interest in this fanfic has done nothing but go downhill. I am just thankful that it's almost over. Yes, there will be one more chapter after this, and then an epilogue. Shocker, right? And honestly, I can only be happy. I'm happy because for the first time in a very long time in at least 3 years, I will have completed a multi-chapter fanfic, and I'll be happy because I'll never have to worry about it again. I don't much like this fanfic anymore. I think it's awful and it doesn't interest me anymore, and I'm just glad it'll be done soon.

I don't know when the next chapter will be up though. It's hard to say. I currently have two other multi-chapter PPG fanfics up that I'm more worried about. So it could be another few weeks, or even months before chapter 22 is out. But we'll just have to wait and see.

And wow, I'm really close to 800 reviews. It'd be really cool if I could reach 1,000 by the time this story comes to an end, or after. But with only two chapters left, I don't think that's going to happen. However, the most reviews I think I've ever gotten for a story I think was 810. It was for a really shitty story that I wrote like back in 2003. I've long since deleted it, but I've always wanted to beat that record, which I'm pretty sure I can do. And THAT story was 48 chapters. So it'll be cool to get that amount again but with half the amount of chapters lol. So help me break the record, guys!


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